Fractured:Factions
by AwakenedKarbon
Summary: You're dropped into a world of which you have no idea how it works, but you get some sweet powers. Not bad, right? Add politics to the mix, some crazy conflict which involves some divine intervention, and master killer after you who has feelings. Not so fun anymore, is it?
1. Chapter 1: Skyfall

Chapter 1: Skyfall

Falling.

That was the first word that came to mind. The second one was fear. The wind was rushing over me, content with letting me fall to my doom.

I was falling, and no one cared.

 _'I care! Now stop this irrational monologue of thoughts and falling and no one caring!'_

'Who was that?'

 _'THIS IS YOUR BRAIN SPEAKING HERE! NOW DO BOTH OF US A FAVOR AND STOP FALLING AND START THINKING!'_

'Uhhh… Wasn't that your job, brain?'

 _'WELL RIGHT NOW DO SOMETHING OR YOU'LL NEVER FIND OUT WHOSE JOB THAT REALLY IS!'_

'So, what do I do? And, please, cut down on the yelling.'

 _'Do I look like I care?. Now, I guess a good idea would be to check the bag you've been wearing for the past few seconds we've been talking!'_

I then made a desperate effort to remove the bag which felt glued to the back of my hoodie, refusing to detach itself from its position.

'Now what the hell do I do now?'

 **'Do a barrel roll!'**

'Wait, who was that?'

 **'Just do it!'**

This time, I paid no heed to who gave the order and just did it. Whoever this was, was for sure a lot less hostile. I threw myself into a roll with whatever force I could and it helped little with dealing with the falling or wind.

Well then, this is how I die. Falling out of nothingness, and crash into the ground. If all that happens, that makes no sense at all. What's gonna happen next? Do I just revive and die again? Or what? Do I disappear and someone else also dies?

Splash!

One moment under the water, the next above. I'm spluttering, coughing spitting and drowning at once to create what seemed a nightmare, just this was real. And when I say real, I mean really, bloody real. More real than, err…

' _My existence?'_

'Yeah. That and your attempt to be obnoxious. Sure. It fits the quota of real perfectly.'

' _Meanwhile we're drowning and you need to argue with me less, swim more. It's getting pretty soggy in here already.'_

 **'Land Ho!'**

'Who's that?'

' _He's Heart. Don't mind him, he's a total idiot.'_

 **'C'mon Brain, be a good brain. Good brains listen to the heart**. **To me** **! We'll like** , **have so much fun** **together** , **it'll be epic!**

' _And be total idiots. Like you.'_

'Stop it you two! We can argue when on land, and then you can probably cry or yell, or whatever! But not now!'

' **Are we there yet?** '

'No.'

 **'Are we there yet? '**

'No.'

' **Now**?'

'Yes.'

And I inched my way away from the domain of death onto dry, warm sand, only for a few feet before vomiting the seawater from within the depths of my body.

Then I fell over and blacked out.

 **A/N: So yeah. I've gone over this chapter again after a long time, and well, it's trippier than I remember. Luckily though, it sure gets better as we go on. So stay tuned, and thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2 : Awakening

Chapter 2: Awakening.

Head throbbing. Vision blurred. My eyes fluttered open to a scene of golden sand and a clear sky.

"Uhh… Where am … ptooey! Agh! Sand in my throat!"

' _Next time, don't fall over on the sand when you sleep.'_

I pulled myself off the ground and find my bearings, rule number 1 on what to do if you just fell outta nowhere and swim to a random island.

"Alright, now. To the left, sand. To the right, sand. To the front, water, and in the back…" I turn my head around to see a log cabin in the brightening light of the sun.

'More of plank cabin than log,' I murmured before moving towards the shelter, by some instinct of sorts.

Knock knock.

"Hello? Anyone?"

No answer.

I knocked again.

"Helloo…Is anybody in there?"

' _Screw being a nice guy. Kick it down.'_

'I don't need your help all the time. I know what I'm doing.'

I step back a few times, and I charged at the door. 'Fail.'

Once again I try to strike the door, and achieved little more than a bruised arm. ' _Did you try to like, you know, try the door?'_ I decide to comply, for once, and… 'Seriously? You had this idea all this time and you don't tell me?' _'Well, I would, if you didn't freaking tell me to shut up all the time!'_ "No matter." I thought aloud as I entered the structure. It was much brighter inside, for starters. There was a bed at the far corner, with a red blanket. The other side had a chest, unlocked but shut from what I saw. There were other things, but How To Survive In An Unknown World After Being Dropped Out Of Nowhere said you always check containers first for important stuff for, you know, surviving. So the chest lid went up with an audible creak, and inside I found two empty bottles, one filled with water, three loaves of bread, and a few logs of [Oak Wood]. I opened my pack to place my new found loot, where on the bottom there was a book. Slightly soggy from being in there while I swam to shore, but otherwise alright. "Okay then. Who's up for some reading?"

* * *

I stared at the cover. The cover stared at me. I opened the book.

'Greetings and welcome to the land of Minecraftia! Thank you for picking up this book, and hopefully you will thank me later on for this. Anyways, assuming you picked this book up as soon as possible, you either are on Origin Island or have a nether-ton of time and are reading this in the middle of the ocean. Whatever your reasons are for reading this book, be it for entertainment, survival, or you are just a clueless newb, I will be more than willing to help you.'

' _My money's on that you're what is this, newb, this guy talks of.'_

Ignoring the remark, I read on. 'First off, it's probably ideal that you learn the art of Craft. Well, technically, it's more of a science than art, because you follow definite patterns and there's little degree of freedom. The most basic crafting recipe which is one that is the base of many others is that of wooden planks. There is a 2x2 Crafting Grid now with every backpack (praise modern crafting tech). By placing a log of any type of wood, will convert it into 4 Wooden Planks. From then on, you fill your Grid with your newly made planks and you should get a crafting table. This is the beginning of all crafting; with this, tools, weapons, and other things to make life easy. Some examples of recipes are on the following pages.' Turning the pages showed several diagrams of multiple items on a 3x3 grid, enabling things to be crafted which couldn't be done otherwise. At the end seemed to be some print. 'Find anything objectionable? Any queries? We are available in Grosjean, Commerce District, from 9000 Ticks to 17000 Ticks. CONTACT US ON OUR REDSTONE HOTLINE! : 765 2773' Then down in a footnote there was something more in red ink 'P.S: You can break things and harvest them by punching them. Keep this book safe. And you need to leave as soon as possible. You can't stay here for more than a night.'

'Brain, get any of that?' _'Of course I did. I remember all the pictures and that this book was made by some weirdo somewhere off in Far Away. And a thing called a Redstone Hotline exists, even if I haven't the slightest idea what the hell that is. '_ **'I loved the pictures!'** 'So, I take that as a no. Guess it's time to get practical. I shoved one of the logs, which seemed smaller than those outside, into the Grid. It seemed to cut itself into the planks the author spoke of. Collecting the product, which defied logic, I Crafted again, loading the Grid with the newly made planks. Now I retrieved the diminutive block (is everything blocks here!?) and tried to use it, to no avail. I re-read the book for any sort of clues, and found nothing. _'Wow. Just in the morning we almost drowned, passed out, loaded ourselves with sand, and now we're stuck here not knowing how to do the basics. You are a newb, and because of you, we are all going to die.'_ "Oh no. Oh no no no." I shook my head vigorously. "I am not going to give up like this, to this…this…pathetic block!" And with a frustrated look, and with no reason, I just flung the block into the wall, where it seemed to enlarge and finally become something you could actually craft on. "Alright then. Now it's time to actually craft something."

* * *

It took me, well, a few hours but I had crafted everything in the book that I could, and a bit more, which resulted in me accumulating a lot of stuff which made me question why I even made it in the first place. _'For Science and research!'_ was Brain's brilliant answer. As I watched the sun outside set into the reddening horizon, I adjusted my blanket and turned away from the dimming light. This was an okay day, if you minus the drowning and everything. "Tomorrow, I'm going out and seeing the world. I'm going to see Minecraftia, and hopefully find some other people. After all, this Grosjean place seems to be some big settlement."

Tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3: Night

Chapter 3: Night.

I slept comfortably for most of the night, had it not been for the sounds of _something_ scratching at the walls of my shelter. "Hoo…maaannn….Brrraaaannnzzzz….Iiiihhh…."

"Klick…klack…" Thunk. Something hit the shelter, close to the window.

' _Something tells me we got visitors. And they ain't too happy with us here.'_

'So what's the plan of action? Shoo 'em away?'

' **I say we all have a campfire and tell scary stories and have some barbeque!'**

' _I doubt that they are your friendly neighborhood creatures who want to spend some quality time with you. As for the barbeque, it'll probably be us for the meat.'_ 'So then, what is it that we are going to do about these... abominations?' _'Cut 'em open. You made a sword and an axe right? Time to use them to cut down some flesh and bone.'_ I _heard_ that with a certain bloodlust, as though my brain urged me on to fight these things like it was fun. But then, how bad could it be? Tossing on a juggernaut attitude, the door gets kicked open because I'm a badass, and I get ready to cut down some stuff when I actually see the opposition. Hell, it was more of the situation you find yourself in a bad dream (not that I've had any, yet). I was surrounded by skeletons, giant spiders and… **'Ermagahd there's zambis! Zambis! Kill dem all!'** 'Heart, do me a favor while I cut down a few undead. Learn how to stop freaking out. You'll give me Tachycardia if you don't.' _'And what the hell is that?'_ 'Trust me. It's not something you'd want to get. Even though you can't.' I took a deep breath, inhaling the putrid air that these creatures had around themselves. Then with a more than audible battle cry I launched myself into the thick of the battle. The sound seemed to help in giving me a window of time to strike. For mentally deficient monsters, they still seemed to have some degree of instincts and value for their lives. The illusion of fear dispelled quickly, but not before I was hacking and slashing. The wooden blades were dull, but worked well enough all the less.

A zombie tried to take swipe at me, but I stepped back and countered with a cut from an axe to the limb. 'I'm impressed by myself. Haven't fought ever before, yet going toe to toe with these guys…' _'GET DOWN!'_ I ducked as an arrow grazed my scalp. I blinked for a moment, surprised how I actually dodged death. The thought was then interrupted by a spider crashing onto my back and pinning me down. "Khwee!" The spider let out what seemed a sound of delight and brought down a hairy, barbed leg to strike me. There was little to do but throw my head around or scream as the monster tried to dig through my shoulder by stabbing at it with its crude weapon by nature. Another strike came down, another attack on my wounded shoulder.

*thwik*

An arrow came out of nowhere and threw the arachnid right off my back. Stupidly, my first reaction was to stand up and look for where it came from. _'Take cover! Enemy sniper! Somewhere!'_ **'It could be someone who wants to help us. You still sure to hide and not find them?'** _'For all we know, that arrow could've been meant for us. So get back in there!'_ Heeding the advice, I picked my way across the beach back into safety. I hurriedly pushed the door open and closed it behind me, panting heavily. 'I guess… back to bed then?' _'Yeah.'_ Another sigh of relief before dropping on the bed, with a muffled yelp of the pain radiating from my wounded shoulder and bleeding scalp. 'At least now I'll have some degree of peace,' I thought as I closed my eyes smiling lightly.

* * *

Well, I was wrong.

"Fitch. Shhhhh…." *BOOM!*

There was a blast out of nowhere shattering my already disturbed sleep and the shock knocked me off the bed and my breath out of me. As I pulled myself around, I saw what happened.

"Crap."

The doorway was blasted open and the mobs already were headed for me. _'Now would be time to get out of here, don't ya think?'_ "Good idea. So, we charge through like a boss? That was on my bucket list: Charge through a ton of zombies with a lance like a boss. A sword's fine too, 'cause that's all I have." _'Not a bad idea, 'cause I don't have any others. Wait, you have a bucket list already? It hasn't been twenty-four hours since you've existed, and you have a freaking bucket list. If that doesn't have survival on it, we're screwed real bad.'_ "Okay then. For Existence!" I draw my sword to my side and charge in to the horde, blade raised. 'Hey Brain, what are these _hours_ you're talking of? _' 'I dunno. It just seemed appropriate to say it. Heads up, arrow, northeast._ ' I ducked, this time fortunately not hurting my head. I had charged through the horde and had turned towards the forest in the north. Finding myself safe, I panted heavily, exhausted and curled up to sleep on the ground. _'Get up. You wanna die? If what seems to have called for that ungodly horde of terror is night, probably the best idea is to hide or get some cover. Last thing we want is someone eating me in your sleep.'_ **'That's too much work! I wanna sleep. I'm tired. *Yawn*'** "Well, I guess, I got no other idea of how to save ourselves. Wait, I don't know how to build a shelter!" _'Well, damn. Wait, we put down the crafting table before. You think we can do the same with whatever blocks we have?'_ "Well, it's worth a try." I pulled out one of the thirteen oak planks I had, and tossed one on the ground. The block expanded, taking up a much larger space. I smiled to myself. "Achievement obtained: Build." I then tossed the rest down around me, making some degree of a makeshift shelter to push through the night.

Hopefully things won't screw up tomorrow.

* * *

Inventory: 1 Wooden Sword (Slightly Dented), 1 Wooden Axe (Barely Used), 1 Wooden Pickaxe, 1 Wooden Shovel, 1 Wooden Hoe, 3 Bread, 2 Glass Bottles, 1 Bottle Of Water, 3 Oak Doors, 1 Boat, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Chest, 2 Sticks, 4 Wooden Planks.

 **A/N: Alright! Another chapter done and finally we're out of Origin Island! Well, now that we're formally in Minecraftia, there'll be people. Lots of people. And lots of factions (if the title didn't signify that yet). Clearly, that'll be a lot of people, which is more than I can think of without going insane. Hence, I call for what is what is probably the best part of Fanfictions, especially Minecraft ones, OCs. Yes. Lemme know if you have any OC ideas in the reviews or the private messages. What I'll need is a physical description, some degree of character background (if any) behavior, their skills, and their ideals. The last one will pretty much be what sorts your OCs into different Factions. Or, if you prefer, maybe something like kingdom dwellers, or townsfolk. Whatever floats your boat. Now this is getting pretty long for a post-chapter Author Note, so review, leave a like (if those exist here, I'm only aware of the fav thing…) do a good thing every once in a while and yeah. I'll be back!**


	4. Chapter 4: Predator

Chapter 4: Predator

Waking up was no less than a miracle for me, in my tiny shelter of me surrounded by 8 blocks around me and 1 above. How logic worked here, I had not the slightest idea. The block just floated in the air, supported by nothing at all. I drew my axe and started hacking away at the makeshift shelter of mine, regaining all 9 planks I had expended in constructing it. Right after, as though on cue, my stomach grumbled. **'You hear that? You're starving! Gimme some food!'** _'Better we wait a bit more. We need to conserve our resour… WHAT IN THE ACTUAL!'_ I tossed my head up and saw what Brain was freaking out over. Zombies and Skeletons oddly were burning in the light, and one was headed right for me. I swapped my axe for my sword, and charged at it. With one swipe I hit the walking corpse in the skull, which threw it to the ground. With a yell, I brought the blade down, through the whole body, after which the zombie exploded. You read that right. Exploded into what seemed into two pieces of grossly shaded meat, which when picked up triggered a thought. [Rotten Flesh]. **'Ewww! Gross! Throw that right away!'** In a reflex, I did just that. The flesh landed on the ground with an audible squelch as the juices of it leaked out. "I'll agree. That now really is gross. So what's our plan of action then for now?"

' _Get some wood maybe? Or find some other people.'_ **'Or have something to eat now. I'll eat anything!'** I then took out a loaf of bread I had in my pack and took a bite, and another, out of it. Just the last bit remained when…

BANG!

'What the hell was that?'

BANG!

With an awkward yelp, or _'Shriek. That's a really girly shriek._ ' 'Shut up. It's a yelp. Period.' I hit the ground. What is wrong here? First arrows, now something else? Is someone really out there for my blood that bad? I dug a hole three blocks deep with my shovel fast, and hid my cowering self under the earth.

* * *

[RedRinger]

"Where are you?!" I spoke aloud, stupid as that was. That was defying rule Number 1 of being the elite assassin of The Syndicate. Never be the one who's visible. Keep the element of surprise. Keep the drop. But then, I was no longer of 'em. I was free, and liberated of the rules which kept me down. But that didn't mean that I was harmless. Then a rustle interrupted my thoughts, as a Crafter sprinted out of the foliage. The name above his head: Will. . Pfft. I held back a groan. It was a terrible pun. Well, good riddance then. I stepped out with a shadow's silence and brought Reason up to aim. "Meet you in the Void, noob." I pulled back my finger, and a single shot shattered the silence. "Boom." The shot went right through his leg, cutting through. Now all I needed to do was get the information I needed and the documents for an extra payment of 25 emeralds. If this gets done, I should be able to get some stuff done. But this needs to be done first. In a reaction, Will happened to chuck down two potions at his feet, and then speeding away. "Damn." I followed in hot pursuit, firing another shot trying to slow him down. A miss, and a wasted good bullet. This man seemed to be more determined and better equipped than I was told. But I wasn't gonna relent. No one could avoid the Red Ring Of Death.

* * *

[TurbulentTyrone]

"I think the coast is clear. No explosions as of the last few moments." 'Maybe all that there is that this sniper is waiting for you to come out and then fire. That's what happens in the…what were they called now? Movies?'

"What are those? Damnit! Enough of these flashbacks of a life which I didn't live!" But then there was a something above, a sound; which wasn't a hostile boom, something more gentle, footsteps. I dug my way back up, tossing the down the dirt I just gathered, saving one piece. The person ran toward me, with lightning blue particles flying away from him. He seemed to have some sort of words, or rather maybe a name, above his head.

Will. .

He wore some sort of tunic, with its sleeve being marked with some sort of symbol. Something as though it was a sign of allegiance to something. His red hair was bedraggled, and his face screamed fear. "Hey!" I called out, waving my arm. He just hurried over to me, drawn by something. "Y-You…" he seemed shocked and worried, as though he was about to die if some deadly condition. He was trembling as he quickly took out a rolled piece of paper out of his backpack and gave it to me. He looked up above my head for a moment, and then talked again quickly. "T-Tyrone. Tyrone, is it? You are now the one who is to protect the future of the next batch of Crafters. Guard this m-message with y-your life. Hurry to Lustace. Find Harold. Tell him I sent you." He then just ran away. I hurriedly put the scroll in my pack, by the time which Will had gone off pretty far. How was he going so fast? Steroids? Wait, what the hell are those now? Matters little, even if it matters a ton. A few moments later, another guy raced up to me. His name was also above his head. Does everyone have their names above their head here? The name: RedRinger. He had a scar crossing his eye, and a heavy leather black jacket, which unlike Will, was without a mark. He combed his brown hair with his hand before asking. "Hey you. You see any redhead run this way? I have a bit of a… deal with him." "Uhhhh…" was my genius answer. 'Dammit. Brain, Heart, do I speak the truth or lie? Hurry!' _'We lie. This guy seems shady. For all we know, this could be a trap to kill that Will guy. And his blood will be on our hands then. I don't want that. Morals and everything.'_ "Uhhh… No! Haha… I didn't see any redhead going this way. Honest." "Really? You haven't seen anyone?" He pulled out something of some sort of metal, and my instincts said it was trouble, even if I didn't have the slightest idea what this is. "ActaullyIhavehejustwentthatwayyourwelcomebye!" And I ran away. Just like that. This guy was really, really creepy. And he seemed like he would kill me if I didn't comply, again like those… movie things. Whatever they are. After what seemed ages of running, I looked back. The coast this time hopefully was clear in a proper sense, and I got down to chopping some more wood.

* * *

[RedRinger]

What in the actual Nether did he just say? He said it blazing fast and then just ran away. "Seriously?" I thought aloud. Then I took out my map. Marked with outposts of those Way of the Light people. They weren't really bad nether, they actually saved my hide several times before, when I was not who I am now. But a bounty is a bounty, and you get it done. Regardless. I marked the closest possible target, and headed in that direction.

A few minutes of sprinting had me right where I needed to be. Unlike the normal laid-back attitude of the iron and leather clad guards, these were up and about, ready to attack any possible threat. Another mistake. No wonder they never got strong. I casually strolled over to them, putting up the closest thing I had to a friendly smile, and asked courteously, "Hello… Have you seem any gentleman by the name of Will. ? Two periods, between Will and I, and I and am?" "It matters not. Who enters and leaves this place is not your concern." "Really? It matters to me." I drew Reason and fired twice. The two guards became into an explosion of gear, and miraculously not a single soul came. "Lucky me." I opened the gate and entered the settlement. I was greeted by one frightened, and four angered, faces. "Not so lucky me then. Not that it matters. I drew Reason and pulled off a flurry fire. "Boom, Bawp." Two shots to the head, two down. "Bada, bing…" Two other and it left only the frightened face. The bounty. He ran. "Bang…" I shot another round, crippling him and dropping him breathless, face down. I smugly walked over to the half-dead target, proud of myself. With my boot, I turned his body over; his paling face had eyes wide with fear. I had seen that look before. He knew he was going to die. I smirked and pointed the barrel at his face. "Pow."

A single shot shattered the silence.

No one escapes the Red Ring Of Death.

* * *

[TurbulentTyrone]

"Oh hell no."

There had been six shots over and over, and it didn't seem to stop. Heart was freaking out, and Brain was ready to call for in for a runaway. "Is it over now?" A silence answered my question. "Okay. I'll take that as a yes." I looked up and saw the sun go down. "Double hell no." An arrow just narrowly missed me, as though trying to wake me up. I dug downwards, trying to get dirt for making a shelter, only to find the ground under me disappear under me by my own shovel, and I dropped onto a hard and solid surface. It was pitch dark, and I was alone. _'Hey, what're we for?'_ **'Yeah, brain's right!'** 'Simplified, screw things over and fighting with each other. Or rarely give me some degree of an objective.' _'Ok then, how 'bout this for an objective, find some light and then get the bloody hell outta here! The darkness is… off-putting here.'_ 'Not bad for a plan.' Drawing my sword, I ventured into the unknown.

'Hey, there's something over there!' There seemed to be some sort of light emanating from a distance, which seemed comforting after a walk in the dark with miraculously no mob encounters at all. A few more steps and collisions into walls later, there was the source of the light. A torch. Something clearly un-natural. It was man, or rather Crafter, made alright, but this lead to more questions and worries than comfort. Where did this come from? Is there someone else here? How do you make this? Is the person who made this still here? Are they safe? Are they friendly?

"Hello." Was what came from the back of me and sent frozen fear down my spine.

"Crap." I whispered.

And I turned around.

* * *

Inventory: 1 Wooden Sword (Slightly Dented), 1 Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), 1 Wooden Pickaxe, 1 Wooden Shovel (Barely Used) 1 Wooden Hoe, 2 Bread, 3 Glass Bottles, 1 Bottle Of Water, 3 Oak Doors, 1 Boat, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Chest, 2 Sticks, 13 Oak Wooden Planks, 3 Dirt, 5 Oak Wood, 1 Paper (Sealed, Marked Important).

 **A\N: Well, this was an… interesting chapter. On the upside though, things have gotten pretty good. Tyrone finally has a name, and we've met some other character in play. Pretty harsh he is, at the lightest. Plus, we've seen the first bits of the actual factions which are going to be in the story. Like the Syndicate, and the Way of the Light, and things like that. I have got like a whole document on these factions, which'll be available as a one-shot on my page if you guys are interested. The chapter is pretty much the longest I've written so far, and hopefully they'll keep getting longer, if the Mid-Terms don't mind, (which they do, T_T) as a result, the Tests may keep me away from the keyboard for about a month. Yes, I have tests for a whole month, blame the Cambridge International Syndicate, they're pure evil. (Only for the tests and demanding syllabus, otherwise they're not half-bad. So, I'll try my best to upload a chapter for y'all, but I won't make any promises. So until then, read, review, and send some OCs. I have enough for Brain to work at as it is.** _'He's right. Send the OCs. I need a break. Maybe some coffee with it.'_ **So, those interested can find the criteria on Chapter 3.** **This is AwakenedKarbon, finishing this chapter, and signing off.**


	5. Chapter 5: Unexpected

Chapter 5: Unexpected.

I turned around, to see a gray blade pointing at me and behind that a short, white-blond haired female with a smirk, which at the very least didn't appeal much. She seemed to be wearing some sort of tunic and leggings, coloured white, with a similar insignia like that of Will's and with that she wore a sword of some gray thing. For one thing though, it was a hell lot sharper than my own. Immediately with back to the wall I drew my blade and pointed back my wooden one. "Get back!" Was my brave threat to this new person, who seemed to have what seemed more of a _normal_ name. Esme. Shorter. Simpler. 'But wait, if the normal is not normal here, then is the abnormal normal here? Are there pigs who run into people and blow up? Is that normal? Is people jumping off cliffs to land in tiny puddles normal? Does TNT make videos? Does…' A laugh immediately stopped my extreme train of thoughts running at 2000 miles an hour. " Really? Hehe… sorry, it's just, heh, just too funny. What was your plan with that? Pointing that pitiful toothpick of a weapon at me, and thinking that it'll save you? Now this…" She swung that blade of hers in the air. "Is a real weapon. Made solid, and reliable." "Are you going to kill me? Cause why else are you pointing that thing at me?" She adjusted her grip on her sword, and answered, "That depends on if you're of the Legion or not."

'Crap. I'll have to do something. Gotta stall.'

"So, uhh... Do you like potatoes?"

In return, I get a blade touching my neck. "Don't even dare stalling. I know it you're scared. After all, you probably are an undercover Legion agent. Why else would you stall to wait for help?"

' _Good job, Ty. Sure. That's exactly how you drag on a conversation.'_

'Nah, she's just paranoid. Any idea of how to get her offa me?'

' **Don't ask me. I'm just a little innocent harmless heart.'**

' _Little, probably. Innocent and harmless, not very much. Stupid and uncontrollable, pretty much. Ty, try a compliment. Works every time. Mostly. I guess._

"Well, er, because I'm not and I'm really freaked out right now? Plus, since you seem to be so sure about your so uncanny observation skills, what do you have that I'm part of this Legion you think I'm from?" "Uhh… you're in our faction's territory, for one. And you're not wearing any uniform or mark of a friendly faction." "So simply you mean just because I'm not wearing friendly colors and I'm in your house that means you can kill me? Even if I don't have the slightest clue what the hell is going on?"

"Unless you prove that you're not here to take us out, yeah. Even if we're friendly towards new and weak Crafters, we don't spare any threats."

"Do you know anything about any Will. ? Cause he gave this to me. Told me to send this to some Harold guy in Lustace."

She took it. And placed it in her pocket. But it seemed things on her end didn't seem to be looking good today. "Will… Will wouldn't just let go of a message. It could only mean one thing." Esme was shaking, no it was something more. "I was right." Her eyes were now red with rage. "You not only took his message, but killed him!" It was immediately followed by a lunge toward me. I barely brought my sword up in defense. "Really? I try to bring something he told me to give to someone else and this is what I get?" "Yes. That's what you get for murder." A push, and she knocked me over onto the ground. Esme brought her blade high, planning to impale me. "Say your pathetic prayers to Herobrine."

* * *

[Brain]

' _Shit, this wasn't part of the plan. Heart! Adrenals! Liver! Organs! Defcon 2! This is an emergency!'_ This day was probably the _best_ day cause yeah, you don't meet and almost get killed by a doubting madwoman who won't stop thinking that I'm bloody innocent. But guess the best thing to do is take control myself. Dying because you couldn't do anything isn't like, the best way to kick the bucket, if you ask me. And that's what's not gonna happen with me. With a battle cry, (if that applies to fabulous brains like me) I took on the command to justify my existence.

' _For existence!'_

* * *

[Tyrone]

I have no idea what I just did.

As the blade had come down, I happened to dodge the strike just by a millimeter after which I pulled off a counter attack of a kick to the back of Esme's leg, knocking her down. I drew my wooden sword. "Not that hard are you?" I charged with a strike, only to be dodged with a single sidestep.

"Get good newb!"

Esme followed her remark with a strike of her own, spinning around and cutting my back, drawing blood. I stumbled and collapsed near what seemed a huge drop, with only a small pool of water on the bottom. Esme pinned me down this time, and sheathed her sword for a smaller blade. A dagger or knife of a sort? "This… time…I'm not… going… to let… you… go." She said through teeth clenched in rage, and she started stabbing me like a crazed psycho killer. Each wound seared with pain, and consciousness was slipping. 'Guess this it. Game over in how long? Two days? Three? Matters little now.' Just when again, to save my life, an arrow came out of nowhere, knocking Esme off me, and to the side with a very audible swear from her. I looked down again, the pool seemed larger and safer than the stone housing a devil-woman. "Screw it. This my only chance." With all the strength I could muster, I threw myself into the ravine, focusing only on the single liquid refuge.

* * *

[Red]

Explosions. I love explosions.

Those were my thoughts as I set down the Redstone torch on the massively long fuse which connected to my li'l Cube o' Boom. I had the head of my target, which all of dropped, as proof of a job well done. There was no major loot on the members who took me on either, so their was no need to pick it up. So it was better blown up. _You were never there…_ that's the motto of any stealth assassin. That's why I leave no trace of any attack as loot. But the motto didn't say you can't blow it up. _Fitchssshhhh…_ Boom! "Alright then. Time to get some sweet emeralds! I tossed down a frame of obsidian, and lit a fire. The temperature around dropped instantly. An involuntary shiver, and I enter the doorway to Nether itself.

A few minutes of walking brought me to a station of the Nether Fast-Travel rail network. Though probably the most dangerous desk jobs, I'm pretty damn sure these guys are paid like an emerald a day. "Hello. How may I serve you today? " Those were the standard greeting words of every single of those ticket people everywhere. Do you not know any other way of saying hi? But then, it is not bad, but hey, you need to spice things up sometimes. "Just a ticket to South Station. Middle class." "That will be 4 emeralds." "Here." I exchanged the gems for a slip of paper and go on my (not so) merry way. I boarded the minecart, and apparently not many people decided to take this route. The driver flicked a lever and had the mine-train cruising at speeds of around a chunk a tick.

The trip was simple and silent, with me doing little but taking inventory of my stuff and tinkering around with Reason. Even so as a Syndicate standard revolver, it surprisingly had been pretty modular. If only making those bullets was cheaper. The loot wasn't worth the six shots, come to think of it. I could've just stabbed em or cut em, or something along those lines. Meh, matters little now I've gotta get ready for my payment.

"Attention, we ate arriving at South Station!"

The train slowed down, and then immediately braked after running over the unpowered rails. I got off and headed in direction of objective.

I was greeted by a massive fortress made of nether brick, larger than the other standard ones. Not surprising, when your client is a real big shot. Especially when your client is Herobrine himself. He's the sort of person you either listen to and respect, or you can go get yourself wrecked real bad, almost to the level of getting rekt. Two Pigmen pointed their blades of gold at me, trying to ward me away or something. "I'm Red. RedRinger. I'm here based on Herobrine's business. A minor grunting between the two, and the blades are withdrawn back from my face. Entering the place, not for the first time, it was huge. Torches lined the walls, with the hallway spreading to many rooms, but for me, all that mattered was to keep going forward. To the throne room. I entered the room which was not surprisingly, empty. I kneeled on a knee and spoke.

"I am here with my duty fulfilled Your Highness. The target you asked for had been eliminated, his head to decorate your wall as proof, if you allow."

In return, globules of green began to come together, and form a sort of light. A voice them came from inside my head. "Very well done, my champion. Another Notch follower who learned the hard way that with all his belief, his little lord didn't do but a thing to save him. I, in contrast, protect those loyal to me, and reward them well. However my champion, before you are paid your little _commission,_ where is the message to procure for which the whole operation was undertaken."

Shite. There go my 25 gems.

"Your Highness, Will did not have what you seek on his death. Nor was it on any of his companions. I checked thoroughly for this purpose."

"Hmm… it could mean only two things. Two which I did not expect. One, the whole plan was found out, and Will was merely a decoy."

"With all due respect, Your Highness, but that seems highly unlikely. They would not endanger their best couriers for a situation like that."

"Interruption in a master's words is immoral, and will not be done in my presence!" The sound reverberated through my skull, and gave me a serious headache. I gripped my head because of the pain, how that helps, I have no idea.

"Now. The second possibility is that the document probably changed hands during the journey, when the danger was realized. Was there any Crafter you came across in pursuit? As they may possess what I seek, and now you seek."

That means only one person is left in the equation.

"Your Highness, I shall return soon, and not without what you seek."

This is going to be a long day. Dammit.

* * *

Inventory: 1 Wooden Sword ( Fairly used), 1 Wooden Axe (Fairly used), 1 Wooden Pickaxe, 1 Wooden Hoe, 1 Wooden Shovel (Barely Used) 2 Bread, 3 Glass Bottles, 1 Bottle of Water, 1 Book (Welcome to Minecraftia), 3 Oak Doors, 1 Boat, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 1 Chest, 6 Wooden Slabs, 13 Wooden Planks, 5 Oak Wood, 2 Sticks, 3 Dirt.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew! Finally got this chapter done just in time for New Years eve. This one was a real heavy one to write, cause one, I'm a serious procrastinator, who was trying to unwind after the mid terms. Second, I had to leave city for some time without my computer, and I had to type this whole thing on my phone. Worse, When I got back, the file wouldn't work on my pc, so I'm pretty much finishing the whole thing on my phone, which was real slow business. And in case there's anything about how the name Esme is pronounced here, it's as it is without any special z or silent e sounds. Like a 'Essmee' or something along those lines. Also, I missed an important thing in Tyrone's inventory, his tutorial book. And I have a little** _ **game**_ **to play (I feel like I'm sounding like Jigsaw, even if I haven't watched a single movie of his…) The challenge is to find the reference hidden in this chapter. The winner gets a Happy Cake ㇳ4** **(Cause everyone loves cake!) Others get FailBread ㇯8** **. But there are questions left unanswered in this chapter, like who was the mysterious stranger who saved Tyrone's life? These should obviously should be answered soon. On the same bat-channel. And I noticed that Will's full name wasn't coming up on my story. Just for info, it's Will. I. Am. As one word. Not like 3 sentences here. But then, I'm probably over worrying for the name of a dead character. Anyways. Thanks for reading, see you all in the next chapter, this is AwakenedKarbon, signing out.**


	6. Chapter 6: Presumed Dead

Chapter 6: Presumed Dead.

 **A/N: So apparently no one got the reference for last chapter. For those wondering, there were two. Both in Tyrone's 2000 miles per hour thought train. One, the Dropper minigame, which in Minecraft** _ **is**_ **normal, and the second was ExplodingTNT, the Minecraft machinima maker (I'm not related anyway or anyhow to him, he just makes crazily funny videos. And he sounds weird. That's why he's here.) Guess that means I have the Happy Cakes all to me then. *Nom Nom.* *Burp.*. Excuse me. The game is on again this time, and this time, and a hint is it's a Vine trend (or was, rather. I liked it. It should've stayed. T_T) The winner gets a Happy Cake ㇳ4 and acknowledgement next chapter and wrong ones get FailBread ㇯8 . May the best Reference Master Win!**

* * *

I was falling. Again. And probably no one was caring except Brain this time too.

' _Ty, now's clearly not the best time to go on with repeating your monologue during Free Fall the First, and actually land yourself right.'_ In a spread-eagled form, I tried to position myself into the little puddle of water. 'We are on target, repeat, we are on target.'

' _Good, enough of this falling crap.'_

Sploosh.

Now that was more anticlimactic than I thought it would be. _'Of course. We're not falling from a hundred stories this time.'_

I swam to the top of the shallow pool, and struggled to lift myself out of the body of water. My muscles were straining under the effort, and the wounds which Ms. Psycho made didn't help. I slumped down against a conveniently nearby block of stone, which seemed more cracked than usual. Almost like hit with a pickaxe.

Wait…

The stone seems hit with a pickaxe. It means pickaxes break stone. That means stone can be harvested with a pickaxe. Stone is grey. Esme's sword was grey. Esme is a psychopathic killer who stole my stuff and almost killed me. The sword was of stone and was dangerous. A stone sword is identical to wooden one except for a stone blade. That maybe means a stone sword is also crafted the same way a wooden one is. A stone sword is a better weapon. I am thinking too fast and using crazy linkage logic. _'That's probably because you have been sitting in the dark for the past few minutes on a really uncomfortable block. Plus the blood loss has probably screwed your mind over. Not me. Your mind.'_ 'That technically means you're screwed over. You're my mind.' _'Just get on with getting better and getting out of here. This crap of yours isn't helping at all. If you ain't gonna get up, I'll do it myself. This button should do it'_ 'I have buttons in my head?' _'Let's see.'_ The result was sudden generation of some, images, at the edge of my field of vision. At the top left, there was a series of hearts, which were jumping up and down, 8 of them blacked out. On the right, there were… drumsticks? Five of the ten were blacked out. At the bottom, there seemed to be a bar abut 60% filled with green and a number 1 above it. 'Brain? What did you do to me and my sight? What's with all these hearts and stuff?' _'Eh… I don't know. Gimme a sec. Lemme get the manual. How to control your Crafter. So uhh, hearts… food… healing… kay. So apparently those hearts are an approximate measure of your physical strength and your body's endurance. If all hearts black out, there's a ninety five plus percent chance that you'll die on the spot.'_

 _'_ And the five percent chance?'

 _'You die slowly and painfully. As for the drumsticks, they represent how starved you are. The more blacked out drumsticks, the hungrier. Oh, and this seems useful. On a full stomach, Crafters are able to heal any wounds over time. Guess that means two things. One, we're about to die.'_

'Oh damn.'

' _Two, if chomp down on whatever we got, we live. So get stuffing that moutha yours.'_

'M'kay.' Two loaves of bread, which surprisingly were in pristine condition. How does that work? Some really watertight bag of mine that is. "Down the hatch." Two dry loaves of bread and a bottle of water to wash it off later, I saw the hearts in the corner of my vision color themselves red. First half, then a full, and then another half, and it kept on as I just watched mouth agape as cuts made by Ms Psycho just… fixed themselves. They just… _'Shut it. Get some stone, try to make a sword and let's get the hell outta here. It feels, weird in the dark.'_ 'Alright. I'll have it your way li'l scaredy Brain. Stone, sword, and then get the hell out.' I drew my Wooden Pickaxe and hammered at the stone wall. A cracked block dropped as a result, different from what I mined. "Cobblestone…"I said as I picked up the block. "This can only mean one thing." **'What is it? More food nearby? Some friends?'** A unfamiliar tune played in my head. "Run."

I broke out in a full-out sprint as I ran from the place where I made the hole.

' _Why are you running?!'_ A voice rang through my head.

' **Yeah, why? You don't know any monsters as friends. Who's gonna hurt you?'**

"People." I said. "Or…Crafters, to be technically correct."

My schizophrenia taunted me. _'How does a single rock tell you to run because people are nearby? Plus, I'm your subconscious, not this, schizophrenia you call me. So call me that.'_

As I panted, I thought back in reply. 'It's because the stone I picked up was not the stone that was there in the first place. I mined it and turned it into something else.' I took out the single block of cobblestone. 'This is the same block I sat on. The block was modified by a Crafter. That meant another person was nearby. And for all I know, they may just be an ultra psychopath who wants to kill me even if he's convinced that I'm innocent.'

' _Then get a better sword so you don't get hashtag rekt next time you have to meet someone like that . So get mining.'_

I drew my pick again and worked at the wall until I had a decent amount of cobblestone in my pack. 'Crafting? Then what's our plan?'

' **We get ice cream! I always love ice cream! Everyone loves ice cream!'**

I could've sworn I heard a sigh from inside myself.

' _I already told you. We get the hell out. Then probably something else.'_

I craft another Crafting Table from the planks I have, and convert the five logs of mine to planks. The table goes down, and I draw my tutorial book and struggle to read the pictures (is that even a thing?) in the dark.

' _It's two stone on top of a stick. Get it done and let's get out of here.'_

I placed two blocks of the cracked stone one on top of each other and a stick under it. The three components collided and formed the blade of rock. I picked it up and gave it a test swing. It was much heftier, and clearly going to do more damage.

"Ihhhh….." A voice from behind.

'Alright, this should be fun. _Three, two, one…Action. '_

' **Ermahgahd zambis! We got zambis!'**

"No problem." I said with a smirk.

"For Existence!" I charged with my sword and delivered a slash right across the torso of the walking undead, knocking it back. I followed up with a forceful stab into the zombie's torso, and it exploded into a chunk of rotting flesh and several orbs of a green hue. The orbs just flew into me and colored the green bar at the bottom of my field of view, from more of a sixty percent to a ninety percent full. I picked up the piece of gross flesh. Is it worth keeping?

' _Dude, Ty, this is a survival kill or be killed scenario. Pick up whatever you can. We'll need it all, eventually. Probably. '_

I retch internally as I place the sickening drop in my pack and grope my way through the darkness.

An hour's roaming in the dark brought me nowhere. For all I know I may have been just going around in circles.

' **Wait, is that… light? It's light! We're safe! We can have ice cream!'**

' _Heart, we need to have a talk about your obsession with ice cream. Even if you never had it in your life before.'_

I silenced my thoughts. 'You two can argue all you want, but at least do it without telling me everything! I need to focus.'

More cautious now, I drew my sword and headed slowly toward the source of light. I wouldn't trust myself about getting ambushed again if I left myself on autopilot.

"Khew, Khwee!"

"Gah! Spider!" I gave an uppercut slash at the oversized arachnid and it was flung into the air, only to attach itself to the barely lit ceiling. I began a laughable attempt to stab the spider by poking the sword up in the low ceiling, only to waste energy.

"Khwee! Khwee!" The spider seemed jovial. The damn spider wasn't dying, and it was having fun annoying me like that!

' _Screw it. It isn't worth the time and effort.'_

'Says the one who ain't doing a thing.'

' _Exactly. Even then it's not worth it.'_

Another random poke, just this time I hit the mark.

'Sure it was pointless?' The spider exploded into a piece of string and… an eye? Really? I didn't hit it there. Well, it could have some use. Now to see what this place is.

The source of light was a torch, Crafter made like the rest of them. I subconsciously turned back, afraid of another hello. No one. I stood in place and looked around to see if there was any way about that, but something caught my eye. A chest, inside a minecart. I opened the chest, with another creak that had me look around to check for anyone nearby. No one again. I looked inside, and found… coal? And what else? There seemed to be a piece of paper too. I picked it up and looked at it. It seemed to be a map. At the bottom was a bit of writing: _Map Of Bur's Mine._

' _Really? Bur's mine? That's the best that guy could have thought of? Not something like Mine Murdock? Eh never mind. That sounds just as bad. Is there any place to get out?'_

'Hmm… There." I pointed at the map. " That's how we get out. There seems to be some tracks leading out. And I know exactly where to get my sick ride." I smiled and looked at my wheeled ticket out.

* * *

[Esme]

(Earlier…)

I gazed over the ravine.

"Idiot." I thought aloud. "What was he thinking? He probably wasn't aware that falling from that height will kill you." I sighed. Maybe that Tyrone kid was honest about what he said. But he still had that message. I looked at the rolled paper. It was sealed with the Mark of Notch, of His Apple. Tyrone said that Will had this. And he gave it to him. But Will was our most important courier. He was really, really serious about keeping his packages to himself, and he would never just give his stuff like that. That only means that even if Tyrone wasn't a Legionary, he still was a murderer. So his death was for the better. "But…" I self-talked. "Had to be in this make it so important?" Do I dare? Anyone who found out could have me cast out if it was proven I looked at a package above my authority. Tempted, I break the seal and unroll the paper.

 _Harold. The forces of Herobrine approach as I write. The danger is such, that it cannot be emphasized sufficiently without writing about the danger comprising of an entire volume. Our foe is strong, and without relent. Herobrine will do all he can in his power to eliminate Notch and each and one of us who follow him._

 _However, there may be one hope. Five of them, rather, which can lead us to a machine created by Notch himself. This machine, and the artifacts themselves, provide the user with powers near impossible. This may be our only chance, if we are to keep the word of Notch alive, and safeguard his practices. The map that we found in the excavation, and should be on the way, if luck favors, in the hands of Frost. He should arrive at the same time as the letter. These five treasures, too, have nigh divine powers, and once you receive the map, send men to secure them. Or women. I'm not sexist. The storm approaches, and we need to be ready to brace ourselves._

 _Notch guide you,_

 _DiamondDust._

"So…" I grinned to myself. "Finally a way to not get pushed around. If I can get my hands on these things, I may as well become that ultimate Crafter which I always wanted to be. Like no one ever was before me. I finally will be able to overcome the oppression of the experience hierarchy. No one will dismiss me as a newb. They will treat me as I deserve to be treated. Now, who is my next target? "HaroldOfTruth, you have no idea what truth you're gonna look in the eye now. You'll look at me, as I take what is rightfully mine…"

* * *

[Tyrone]

"WOOHOOO!"

My arms were flung out in the air as I rode my way out to victory, err, freedom.

' **This is the best day ever! Even if we met a psychopathic killer and almost died!'**

' _Urk. How are you enjoying this? I'm getting sick. If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom.'_

I said nothing, just grinned on.

A few minutes past, I was out again in the open, and free. I looked up. The sun had moved nearly entirely across the sky, now it was only going to get to nighttime. "Now, what's next?"

' _Simple. Find the person who tried to kill you, and get back at her. That's how logic works. I would've added that like an objective with a marker, but you Crafters don't come with things like that. Kinda sucks.'_

"But we have one clue. We head nowhere but Lustace. If that creep was even a bit serious about her job, she'd probably deliver it to that guy. So that's where we go! For Existence!" With an energetic stride, I begin my march to Lustace, before abruptly stopping. "Wait. I DON'T BLOODY KNOW WHERE LUSTACE IS!" I yelled aloud. For no reason. _'And now the world is going to come to kill you now that you just announced yourself.'_ The sounds of footsteps of all kinds, from all directions, started to enter my mind. Either I was going insane, or Brain was right.

"Ihhhh…."

"Khew…Khwee!"

"Klick…Kluck…Klack…"

Oh shit.

I drew my Stone Sword, ready in a terrible combat stance.

"For Existence!" In a battle-cry fueled rage, I charged at my enemies.

'Brain, how many?'

' _Two spiders, two skeletons, and a zombie. Nothing you can't handle, if you get lucky. Otherwise, you're wrecked.'_

'Now I just hope I am.'

* * *

[Red]

I was always a pro at tracking. Crafters, Mobs, Testificates, I could track pretty much anyone. It's cause everything has its own little pattern it follows. Track it, and you find your mark.

Just this time, I got no pattern to work from, there seems to be no shelter even far from here, where I met that Tyrone character. If Will didn't have it, that's probably the only logical choice, even if it sounds downright far-fetched and stupid. The fact that they had Will go down the same path shows they had no idea of that this was to happen. Will's face pretty much confirms that. Someone said a person is his true self in his last moments. That fear just showed he knew nothing.

"Well, now what do I do? No idea where that Tyrone went off to. Being a nomad, he probably won't stay long, but…Oh Nether yes Red, you are a freaking genius." What if he wasn't a nomad by choice? What if he was just a noob? He had no armor, he had a wooden sword, his face yelled not pro, and he freaked out just seeing Reason. And what does a noob do as soon as possible? He heads to the nearest settlement. With more noobs, and corrupt Federationists who fill their pockets with bribes from the people the world was better of without. And the closest is… trashed. I just remembered. I blew that Way of The Light outpost. It was fun while it lasted though. Guess then it's Pingaf. En route to Lustace, almost every Crafter goes through there, and that's where I find the head with 25 emeralds for me. More of the document with 25 emeralds for me. It will suck killing him. I can't have Reason in action, cause the sound seems to attract from all the way from the Far Lands. No option but to go silent, with Knifeshot. Better that then for the little kick of a kill with a bang, then spend another dozen rounds killing all the other guards. I grinned. Silent and more profitable. I like it.

* * *

Inventory: 1 Wooden Sword (Fairly Used), 1 Stone Sword (Lightly Used) ,1 Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), 1 Wooden Pickaxe( Lightly Used), 1 Wooden Hoe, 1 Wooden Shovel (Barely Used) 1 Rotten Flesh, 4 Glass Bottles, 2 Coal, 1 Map (Bur's Mine), 1 Book (Welcome To Minecraftia), 3 Oak Doors, 1 Boat, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 1 Chest, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Stick, 33 Wooden Planks, 3 Dirt, 3 Cobblestone. 1 String, 1 Spider Eye.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew! Another Chapter done right on deadline, but this time this one is the biggest yet. We've surpassed 10,000 words! *Fanfare* and this chapter is 3000 words long! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, yada yada. Thank you all, leave a review, any OCs, any ideas, a favorite, a follow, and I'll see you guys next week, where I continue this crazy three way chase of Tyrone chasing Esme, while being chased himself by Red. This is going to just get crazier and longer, I assure you. So hold on tight. This is AwakenedKarbon, signing off.**


	7. Chapter 7: Food Issues

Chapter 7: Food Issues.

 **A/N: Hello everyone, Karbon here. And we got two things. First, we hit our first milestone of 250+ views! *Fanfare* Second, we have a winner this time! Even if the reference wasn't exactly what was in question. It was 'Run' from Vine. That trend shouldn't have died, I say again. Which no one guessed, but there was another which I didn't specially mention. The misspelling of zombies as zambis by heart whenever he sees em. Congrats to Laner for that. A Happy Cake is yours for the taking.**

 **As for the review, yes Laner. It was pretty similar to the certain mutual story you speak of, which I do say inspired me to write this. With finally getting some into my own groove and getting some characters and something to distinguish it. Like mods I have planned which may have full or partial implementation in this world. As for the reference challenge this chapter, one is a videogame catch phrase, and the second, is one I kept for Laner and all those who read the story Laner knows. He knows which one it is, and I expect him to get it. He'll probably get it and a few others. But don't despair. Only one reference needs to be guess for the cake. The rest of the rules were on Chapter 5 of how things work, though it's simple. Winner gets a Happy Cake ㇳ4 , Non-Winners get FailBread ㇯8. Now enough with my jibber-jabber, on to the chapter, and to victory! (Why did I write that?)**

* * *

[Tyrone]

I sized up the opposition; a zombie, a pair of oversized arachnids, and two sentient and alive stacks of bones. With bows. I got this. Hopefully.

"For Existence!" My Battle Cry began the combat sequence.

I charged at the zombie first, to shut up heart from his panicking and yelling **'Ermagahd zambis! Kill da zambis!'**

The undead corpse tried to take a clumsy swipe at me, which I parried with my blade and countered it with a strike of my own. The blade's deadliness was worth the increase in weight. I nearly cleaved the thing's arm off! It staggered away from me, only for it to barely miss an arrow meant for me. That projectile got me in the shoulder, and knocked me off balance, the opening which the spiders needed to get onto me and stab me right where the arrow hit me, and break the bone there. Goddammit mobs! Do you have no other better place to hit me? First a spider nearly stabs through, now an arrow and two more spiders. I threw myself to the ground, trying to crush the giant eight-legged on my back. It didn't have the completely demanded effect, but I soon had a partially squished spider off of my back, while another was trying to stab my chest after deciding it will kill me faster than a shoulder wound. I tried to pull it off my torso, only to get one of my fingers in its eyes.

The pressure crushed one of its eyes.

It exploded into a small shower of goo and membrane. **'Gross!'** Was Heart's remark to that. Brain preferred more of a serious approach.

' _Stop contemplating your hygiene after crushing a spider eye. We're at three and a half hearts. Either kill fast, or we GTHO.'_

My immediate answer was 'Eh what?'

' _Get the hell out. Which will probably fare better for you if you keep talking to me like this. Arrow right ahead. Use Spider Shield.'_

I tried what Brain said in a split second, whatever he meant, and positioned my previous almost-killer in the middle of me and the arrow. It went right into the spider, which exploded into a piece of string. I grabbed it and pocketed it in my hoodie pocket. No time to backpack it. I followed up with a stab at the zombie ahead of me, right in the neck. The undead clutched the wound as it collapsed and exploded into a piece of rotten flesh and…

A book? As I picked up the book in wonder, I got shot in the stomach, courtesy of a random skeleton arrow.

' _That was the worst idea I could have ever thought of. Really? Picking up a book and looking at it in the middle of a battle? Shit, we're at a heart and a half! Get the hell out of here!'_

Book still in hand, I bolted out of the fray. "I'd prefer to live another day, thank you very much!" I yelled back as I ran head down to avoid any stray arrow planning to kill me. I kept running until I couldn't run anymore. "Brain…" I panted. "Status… Check…"

' _Shoot, thanks to you, we're pretty screwed up. We have a heart and a half, and we're on an almost empty stomach. Two and a half drumsticks. If we're going to not starve to death, I guess we… eat. That zombie meat.'_

Heart protested. **'But it says rotten flesh! It's gonna be bad! It'll taste bad! It'll give us food poisoning! Whatever that is. But the point is it's bad and I don't want to eat it.'** _'Fine,'_ I almost could see Brain smiling inside my head. _'We could listen to you…and not eat the food. But! What's gonna happen is we'll starve to death or get shot in the head cause we have too little health which we couldn't get back because of you!'_ Before Heart could answer, I just shoved a chunk of the gross hunk of meat down my throat and almost gagged. But I held it down and had another mouthful of the revolting food. My survival depended on it. Even if Heart was screaming at the top of his non-existent lungs for mercy.

' **Please! Mercy! It tastes horrible!'**

I looked at the corner of my vision. Seven drumsticks. It seemed better, but the drumsticks were a sickly green. Not friendly or appealing.

'Brain,' I thought. 'What is wrong with me now?'

' _Ok, lemme check my book.'_

…

' _Apparently there is some sort of negative effect tied to zombie flesh. It gives you food poisoning. Not in the normal sense, but it still seems to automatically drain you stomach of food.'_

' **See? I told you it was bad!'**

' _Only if you run around like a stupid maniac. Like you, Heart. Otherwise staying still should have relatively negligible effects.'_

'So, is it permanent? Or does it like, wear off?'

' _Hmm, there seems to be window here, it wasn't here before.'_

'Wait, I have buttons and windows in my head? What's next? A potato farm? Flying pigs wanting to be unicorns and telling you to stay in school and don't do drugs?'

…

'… _That was actually in here when you last slept. No joke.'_

"I have no comment on that except that my imagination needs help."

' _Now before this gets any weirder, the window seems to show me two numbers. Seem like timers to me. One is ticking down faster, other's goin' a bit slower. Faster one says fifteen, nope now fourteen, now it's GAH! It's too fast! The slower one is at three right now. And it's still at one value right now. '_

'So, what's going on?'

' _Seems that I'll have to consult the book another time…'_

A sigh from my head.

' _It was a timer for how long the effect was going to last. Not that it matters. The timer reads zero for both values. Speaking of reading, are we going to read that book you had in your hand the whole time?'_

That single thought threw me out of my trance and brought my view to the leather bound book. It seemed old, and worn. Not surprising, considered it was in the hands of a walking corpse. I opened it.

It was blank.

I turned a page.

Still blank.

I skimmed through the pages.

'Blank. Blank. Blank. Blankblankblankblank…'

I finally found a used page. If you could call some drawings on a page used.

'Seems like some sort of map.' I thought. 'What do you say Brain?'

' _Bring it closer. I can't see clear from here.'_ I brought the sketch closer to my eyes, till it blurred out. _'Hm…'_ Brain hmm-ed. Like he always does. _'Seems to be a map, that's for sure. And the print on the bottom, it says, 'Map of Lustace District. Federation Property. Do not distribute. If found, return to Nearest Federation outpost, yada yada. Nothing special except that the zombie had what seems something official, like that note you had. I wouldn't be surprised if that zombie was a psychopathic woman killer in a past life. Check around for other filled pages. There probably is more to this. Otherwise they wouldn't have made this in a book form.'_

I skimmed through the pages again. A small disc fell out of one of them. I picked it up. As usual, a thought triggered. "This is a compass." I announced to myself. _'Aren't those things used in navigation, if that weird sense of yours is any indication?'_

'Probably are.' I thought. 'But what are you doing in my head about my weird sense?'

' _Nothing much. Just was running through some old files. Lots of em had weird sense tagged to them. Including the compass thing.'_

"Well, our endgame was to get to Lustace if things hadn't gone down, and we were going to go there anyways to get back at a certain person who tried to kill me, so I take it we keep heading there?"

' _Objection. It's better we get to the nearest settlement. We need to restock and supply, and do something about our terrible health and hunger values. Which happens to not be far from here. A few of these chunk things to the east, according to the scale on the map. A place called Pingaf. Probably some market or inn or soup kitchen sort of thing somewhere there.'_

'And what is…'

' _Free food that's not rotten flesh.'_

' **It's decided then. To Pingaf, and to victory! And free food. Don't forget the free food.'**

I sighed. I had no choice. Plus all the perks of a settlement were probably going to make it likely that we might find Esme there, or we at least can ready ourselves to be worth the fight.

* * *

[Red]

I sighed to myself.

"This is going to take some time."

Note to self, talking to people while invisible will creep the shit out of them and they call the police.

Now the problem is to either risk blowing my cover for ease of info or stay n the shadows for safety in Pingaf.

The decision was made at night. Visibility at least got you a bed. I knocked at the inn's door.

"Enter!" Came the answer.

I sipped a bucket of milk as I showed myself to the inn-charge (I'm not sorry for the bad pun). "Hello. Have by any chance met any person by the name of TurbulentTyrone by any chance?"

"The privacy of our guests is our responsibility. I cannot tell you of any such incident."

I moisten my lips in a pathetic (now that I think of it) attempt to look cool yet menacing. "Are you sure? If not," I drew Reason. "Probably a bit of _Reasoning_ may help. Don'cha think?" The innkeeper tried to make a desperate to not directly look at my name, but when he did, I can say at the least his skin paling shhowed he did, and he knew who I am. "O-Okay…" He was clearly off of his fake face of _responsibility_ and other crap. After all, we all Crafters are the same. All that matters is what we hide. "Please wait as I bring the ledger. C-Cause, y-you know, lots of C-Crafters come b-by o-often."

"Alright. I'll wait. Why not?"

The innkeepers slow, catious pace as he left the counter said something. Something that told my gut to act fast or stuff'll go down. As soon as he opened the door to the other room, I heard the sound of pistons contracting. A secret entrance. The best thing to do to get away. But no one escapes the Red Ring of Death. I kick down the door that was politely opened a few minutes ago, and saw I was right. The fool had made a tunnel heading somewhere, but forgot to cover up his tracks. And the best way to catch a person like this is with no other technique than one I learned from a certain crafter in the most unlikeliest of weapons. A fishing rod. How he mastered it, I have to ask him someday. But work comes first. I drank a swiftness potion, and followed the innkeeper. Last thing I want is he tells me to the world. A few ticks was all I needed with the increased speed to catch up with him. I cast the rod, yelling, "GET OVER HERE!" The hook got hold of his beige-white shirt, and my pull had him collapse. Cause physics. If they seems to work here.

I pointed Reason at the downed innkeeper.

"Listen. Even if I have been pointing this gun at you for more than half of the time we've met, I'd prefer your cooperation than shooting you."

The innkeeper tried to make a comeback. "Why? Huh?" He jerked his head upwards. "Is it because you just realized your mistake? Realized killing isn't the answer? Decided it's better to ask for an honest job? Is that it?"

I gave a simple answer. One short and (not so) sweet. "Nope. You're just not worth the cost of the bullet. Your value isn't enough."

I smelled burning. It seemed to be coming from the innkeeper himself. Either he left burning coal in his pockets, or my remark just burned him. I'll prefer to run with number 2.

I continued as I holstered Reason. "Listen. How bout you do me a favor. You find me this TurbulentTyrone, and I pay you 10 emeralds and 4 gold ingots. But only if you find him."

He was still shaken. "Y-Yeah. Sure. I'll let you know. It's worth it."

"But if I hear about Tyrone from anywhere else and find out you were holding out on me…" I ran my forefinger across his throat. "That's what's gonna happen. Anyways. It was nice meeting you, and good day." I walked away, about to drink an invisibility potion, when I turned back and yelled, "And if you report to the damned police about me, I'm going to have your head, and then have it in lava, and no one will know."

Now I walked away like I was before, slowly disappearing under the effects of the potion. "This better be worth it." I mumbled. Last thing I want is a wild hunt.

* * *

[Tyrone]

"How much longer?"

' _Depends on you. Either you could stay a whining little idiot and we'll be there by the end of this century, or you could just your crap up and get moving and we could be there by nightfall.'_

"I'm tired. And hungry. And tired."

' **Can we sit down and have something to eat? I'm hungry!'**

' _Yeah sure, we could, IF WE WEREN'T SHORT ON FOOD WITH NOTHING TO EAT!'_

"Uhh guys? I think I found something which could classify as food."

It was a cow, a few meters (or feet, whatever floats your boat) away, just meandering on the plain, raising its head and going "Muohhh". Almost sounded like a zombie, just it didn't burn in the sun and probably not have tainted flesh. I drew my blade, and whispered, "Rest in peace cow, hopefully you have meat on you." Then as usual I called for my battle cry. "For existence!" And charged at the quadruped possible meat source. I delivered a strike to its huge general torso/body, which caused it to moo in fear and try to run away. "Hey get back here! I need your meat!" I chased the cow in its desperate attempt to protect itself. "Dieeeee!" I yelled as I finally caught up with the animal and hacked it to death. It exploded like everything else, into stuff. I picked the loot up. "1 piece of leather, and 2 pieces of raw beef. Will the beef give me ebola? Or salmonella? Or anything like that? "

' _Apparently not. It doesn't have any of those things. Rotten flesh, and raw chicken on the other hand, they'll give you the starvation problem. Though the beef still is going to taste like crap.'_

"Anything on how to cook it?"

' _Negative. Heat may do it. Maybe heat it up next to a torch if we find one?'_

"Meh, I'll just go and get it from Pingaf. Need to go there anyways, and it's getting dark."

' _To Pingaf then.'_

* * *

Inventory: Wooden Sword (Fairly used), Stone Sword (Fairly Used), Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), Wooden Pickaxe (Lightly Used), Wooden Hoe, Wooden Shovel (Barely Used), 2 aw Beef, 1 Compass, 1 Book (Federation Map Of Lustace District), 1 Map (Bur's Mine), Book (Welcome To Mincraftia) 2 Coal, 1 Boat, 1 Leather, 1 Spider Eye, 2 String, 3 Oak Doors, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 1 Chest, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Stick, 33 Wooden Planks, 3 Dirt, 3 Cobblestone

* * *

 **A/N: Alright! Another chapter done, even if it was a bit shorter. It's mainly because of that I didn't have much to write, neither did I have much time, especially now that I have crash courses the whole week. But on the plus side, I have some better plans for the next few chapters, as now things are going to collide, and we'll have some degree of action. Hopefully. It's probably clear from that Red has his plans to get his stuff from Ty through Pingaf itself. Now then, rounding up, thank you all for reading, don't forget to follow, favorite and review, help a senior citizen, be a nice person. This is AwakenedKarbon, signing off.**


	8. Chapter 8: Settlement?

Chapter 8: Settlement?

 **A/N: Another Chapter! So we have a winner again for the reference game, and for rewards I'd like to call someone special. "Herobrine! I need you here!"**

 **Herobrine: Do I need to?**

 **Karbon: Yes you do. You know the drill. And who won.**

 **Herobrine: *Sigh* Alright. Laner my champion. You have done well, and proven yourself. I reward my champions, as you know, and you shall be treated fairly, rewarded with one of the most delectable dishes. Happy Cake ㇳ4 . Really Karbon? I'm supposed to be the most feared entity of Minecraftia and this is what you make of me? A cake distributor?**

 **Karbon: Yes. Deal with it. *Puts on glasses***

 **Herobrine: Screw it. Let's get on with the story.**

 **Karbon: Not yet. I have a review to reply to. Also from Laner, because both came in a single package. For one, I also like how I named Reason, Reason. It's because it's like a reason to convince anyone to do anything. (That's a lot of reasons in two sentences.) As for Red, he won't let up soon. But there will be crazier and more ruthless people I assure you. And although Tyrone may get his game on a bit faster than a certain character, he'll probably stay newb for at least a few more chapters. But he's learning. So bear with me on this.**

 **Herobrine: Can we go for the story now?**

 **Karbon: Yeah.**

 **Herobrine: Finally. And I don't wanna come here anymore. Distribute your cakes yourself.**

[Tyrone]

"So I think we made it?"

' _If that's what you think. All I see is a sign saying Welcome to Pingaf right up ahead, so I guess we are still a bit far from there, don'cha think?'_

'You're right I guess.' Playing along with Brain's sarcasm. I had to learn to just deal with it, cause Brain showed no sign of cutting down on it. It was getting dark, and I had finally got into view of settlement. Now only to bed down and sleep with great dreams which hopefully don't involve potato farms and flying pigs telling me to not do drugs. I walked on into the settlement. It was…pretty empty for a place with Crafters living together in a community. Even if it was rather bright, with torches everywhere.

I mumbled to myself, "They probably won't miss a torch or two," As I took down a few torches from their places. "Until I find out how these things are created or found, They're better with me than them. Cause they probably have a lot of them already to throw these around willy-nilly." Now what do I do? A look to the corner of my vision lets me remember why I came here in the first place. "Food. Lots of food." I had three drumsticks left, and I was going to starve bad if things don't look up. I began my search for a random sign which said 'Free Food'. Not surprisingly, yet surprisingly, I found none.

'Brain, you lied to me. There ain't no soup kitchen here.'

' _Of course no one's going to write free food in the middle of the night! We need to find a place to stay where we might find some food too.'_

"So, a hotel or something?"

' _If those exist, yes. If not, whatever inn or accommodation thingy they have here. If they are too lazy to even have that, we just put together our own shack and sleep on the ground.'_

I sighed. "I hope there is some accommodation somewhere."

I inched my way across the gravel roads of Pingaf, trying to find somewhere to bed down, without using too much energy. I was really low on power, at two drumsticks.

"So… hungry…"

' _Look up.'_

As I complied and saw what was in my sight, I could swear I heard some heavenly tune run in the back of my mind.

"Shelter. An inn."

I knocked at the door.

[Innkeeper]

"Enter!" I announced at the knocking.

A single Crafter clad in a blue hoodie with black sleeves entered, seeming disheveled. Poor thing seemed really beat up, from the way he was walking, but then I say him clenching his stomach. He was starving.

'He better have some money on him…' I thought. 'I don't want any more beggars around asking for food handouts.'

"Hello sir," He greeted, clearly weakened from all his efforts and starvation.

"What is it? A room? Food? Or are you here for handouts?" I replied.

He seemed surprised at the last remark, as though I had read his mind. "You mean free food? If that, then yeah. Brain told me that there's free food here, with soup kitchens and everything. Are those here actually?"

This guy isn't just a beggar; he seems to be a mentally challenged schizophrenic!

Hiding my disgust for this creep, I casually said, "Nope, no free food. If you want any, pay up in cold, hard, emeralds."

"Is the cold and hard part necessary? Or will warm and soft emeralds work too?"

I facepalmed. Which idiot am I dealing with? "It's an expression. So do you have emeralds? Or not?"

The newb answered back, "Ehh…No. Do you know where to get em? And how this works? Cause emeralds seem pretty expensive."

I sighed. This was a real newb, and I guess I had to teach him the ropes on the cash.

"You see, Crafters and testificates trade in a general currency of emeralds. They're like green gems, which can be exchanged for other goods and services, like food and lodgings the way I do. Most major settlements have some sort of trading system which let you exchange stuff for emeralds and the other way around. But this is no huge settlement, so you have to give me some emeralds, or get outta my place…Tyrone?" I looked at his name above his head. This was who Red was giving me that jackpot for. "On second thought, how bout you stay here for the night? I'll even give you something to eat, you seem starving." I put on one of those plastic smiles I had to often give during service for added effect, and it worked. His expression lit up and said, "Ok! Where's my room and food?"

Several cookies later, Tyrone seemed content. "Ahhh…" He lounged back on his bed and patted his abdomen. "Nothing better than a ton of cookies after a serious ordeal of near survival. Those cookies tasted like, victory."

I put on another plastic smile. "Good. I'm happy for you. Now rest up and get ready for another great day!" I gave a little energetic right hook to the air in an attempt to be all peppy and stuff. "Alright. G'night mister innkeeper." I left the room and shut the door behind me. I sighed again, as I wiped that false smile off my face. I sooo hated doing that. At least now I'll be able to stay off of work for a few days with what I get from this. But then, is this what point I've reached? Is this what I've become? In my attempt to get all the money I want and amass a fortune, I'm now associating with one of the most wanted assassin/bounty hunter in Minecraftia, and then co-operating with him to kidnap a completely harmless and, stupidly innocent newb Crafter? Is this my purpose?

"No, no." I whisper as I jerk back tears coming from this mental onslaught coming from within myself. "I can't do this. I can't. I can't." And then a little voice in me spoke against this. 'Dude, you're freaking out for no reason. This is a situation where it's either him or you. Either he gets taken somewhere and is probably killed and we get money, or we get killed and no one gets nothing. But one thing for sure is that death, death never changes. It'll come for either of us; it just depends on whom it comes for. And that decision depends on you. Now either you die a nobody, or we live and get rich and live a happy life after retirement and have a huge mansion. And I'd prefer the second option.'

My eyes had gone watery from this whole situation. It was stupid. I was crying over a stupid Crafter who probably didn't know what was happening outside right now. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve, and went out to find my client.

[Tyrone]

"Wake up." Said a familiar voice which clearly not from inside me. This became clearer when something started prodding at my ribs. "Uhhhnn…" I sounded like a zombie. I opened my eyes fully.

And found my self staring down a thin yet wide blue blade. And at the end of a blade, a not very happy person and a face that was extremely familiar. Because fear had carved it onto my brain.

' _He lies. I don't have this guy's face as a tattoo.'_

"Oh hi Red, quite a pleasant day…or night having you around, heh, I guess?"

Like all other crazed killers I've met, I immediately got a blade near my neck.

"Give. Me. The. Scroll."

"I don't have it."

"Now!"

"I don't have it!" I repeated, trying to prove my point, hands in the air in surrender. But if this guy is even a bit like Esme, I'm screwed. Now the only way to see if they are alike.

"Why are you doing this? Is it because you think I'm some agent of Herobrine?"

Red was taken aback by this statement, apparently not prepared for this. All the less, the blade stayed at my throat.

"Had that been the case, you would be in the Nether delivering the message. But you're not. Which means you aren't."

Okay, so this means that while the two are polar opposites in their ideals, both of them hate me. Why do you hate me so much Lady Luck?

' _Simple. Because you're ugly. Get owned.'_

'Now is not the time for your bad jokes!'

"Where is the note?!" Red yelled at me, throwing me out of my trance.

"I told you, I don't have it!"

Red stroked his chin, and said, "Hmm. I'm surprised. In less than two days you have more willpower to lie in my face than most. Probably the old tactic from before should work." He jerked his sword downward, and the blue blade folded in on itself, and with an upward movement of his forearm, his entire blade was inside the handle of his sword, and then he holstered it in his belt. I was impressed. And by impressed, I was really, really impressed. "Oh. My. Gosh. How do you do that? Can I get one of those? Can my sword do that?"

He looked at me, smug, and with that metal thing he had before. Pointing at me again.

"To the last one, no. To the second one, probably not also. And the first one, it's called the epicness of Syndicate technology."

"Syndicate? Are you evil?" I said, cause every syndicate thingy is supposed to be evil, real life or movies. He answered back, "Depends. It all depends on whose side you're on. And you may as well be on the right side if you listen to me and give me what I'm asking for."

"I told you, I. Don't. Have. It." I kept insisting, but Red refused to believe me. He facepalmed and sighed. "I wanted to probably let you live and make this a clean job, but you're proving to be the worst hostage I've ever met. So I'll just kill you without waking up the whole world. And with knives!" Red ended the last statement with a slightly sadistic smile, and loaded a dagger-like knife into some device on his wrist. Probably some other evil Syndicate technology.

"Goodbye Tyrone. It was nice not knowing you."

Red pulled on some string on the mechanism on his wrist. This was my only last chance, or I'm toast. Now to use my Heart card.

"Ermahgahd it's Herobrine! He's pissed and he's after you!"

In that moment that Red turned around to check, although it sounds weird considering Herobrine is some person who can't pop out of nowhere, I shoulder-charged him in the back and began running my way out of the inn. A quick check at my condition, 9 drumsticks, and 6 hearts.

*Thwick*

A knife flew across my head and nailed itself into one of the pillars of the inn. I grabbed it on my way out. Because Brain said that anything could be useful. I had only one word in mind as I left the building into the open.

Run.

[Red]

And I missed again. My aim must be getting rusty. I'll have to go back and work on it again. For both Reason and Knifeshot. It matters not much now. This can only end in his blood and gear on my hands. That's the only way I'll get the scroll I guess. I followed outside. Tyrone was already a few chunks ahead. I ran after him, downing a Swiftness Potion on the way. I felt the newfound energy have the wind rush through my feet, and quickly I began closing the distance…

When a dirt pillar slammed me in the face. How did I not see that? I could see at a distance Tyrone trying to escape further into the wilds, and I stood up to follow. A few steps forward, and I felt my legs suddenly made of lead weights. I had slowed down. And I'm pretty sure an innkeeper would not have Slowness Potions. I took out a bucket of milk to clear the effects, but as I took a sip, the bucket was knocked out of my hands. I'm pretty sure now who is after me. A bucket of milk was sipped in midair, and a cloaked figure with a weird mask materialized in front of me. The mask seemed like some sort of those gas masks in gas attacks from wherever I get these weird thoughts.

The figure had a calm voice, which said, "So we meet again, RedRinger. I have been waiting for this day to look you in the eye again, and this time claim the bounty on your head. This should be an interesting battle."

I had no time for this. "Sorry Shadow, but ain't nobody got time for this. I'm busy."

"But I'm not. So mano a mano shall it be?"

I sighed. I had to end this quick. "Alright then." I drew my Syndicate folding sword, which I flicked into functional form, and he drew his quartz-tipped steel rapier. Not that it was gonna matter if things would look up.

"Think fast!" Shadow taunted and rushed at me and I fired a knife at him. He dodged it with a simple movement of the head and closed the distance. I brought my cobalt blade in defense to parry the strike. Each tick went on, and Tyrone was probably getting farther and farther. Guess loud is the fastest way to get out of this. So what if I have a crap metric ton (weird sense again…) of zombies after me after this? I need to get to the bounty. I drew Reason, and fired. Once, then twice, and then three times. That oughta kill him. Or at least shut him up.

Only that there was no Shadow or loot pile.

"That's because I'm right behind you. Sloppy Red." He then injected something into my neck. My vision began blurring out. Damn Potions of Inebriation. And damn these Shadow Triad people with their sneakiness.

[Tyrone]

At least this time I wasn't at the edge of dying after meeting a psychopath. But can't anyone let me sleep for once? I'm tired! Thoughts ran through my mind as I raced across the forestland as the sun began to rise over Minecraftia.

I yelled aloud at the sky, aware that hopefully this time I don't have a troop of zombies after me. "God darn it people! Will you stop wanting to kill me?!"

' _I guess it's okay for me to say that they want to kill you because you're ugly?'_

'No. It never is and no brain in the universe is probably as demeaning as you.'

' _I'll take that as a compliment.'_

Subconsciously, I took out the knife thing that Red tried to shoot at me and looked at it. It seemed to be made of some white-ish metal, and it seemed to be more dangerous than my own stone sword, albeit smaller. It was smaller, but you never knew when you could need a metal throwing knife which could be used in melee combat it things get tense. I alternated between normal and reverse grip a few times on my new weapon to get a hang of it. I'll need all the arsenal I can get to get back at Esme The Creepy Killing Woman.

' _Dude, giving the creep weird not-at-all creative names won't help in anyway whatsoever.'_

'I know, it just lets me offload some steam. We are at… seven hearts and six drumsticks. So do we make some cooked beef?'

I placed down the two torches I had and held the pieces of meat near them. There seemed to be nothing happening to the meat, and I put the torches and meat in my backpack with a feeling of frustrated failure.

"Guess my best chance is to get this cooked from somewhere. And that place is…"

I looked at the map book. "Some village at the northeast of here. Hopefully we have at most zero mentally unstable killer Crafters. I wanna eat good food and sleep in a bed without getting assaulted by someone for once."

Inventory: Wooden Sword (Fairly used), Stone Sword (Fairly Used), Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), Wooden Pickaxe (Lightly Used), Wooden Hoe, Wooden Shovel (Barely Used), 2 Raw Beef, 1 Compass, 1 Book (Federation Map Of Lustace District), 1 Map (Bur's Mine), Book (Welcome To Mincraftia) 2 Coal, 1 Boat, 1 Leather, 1 Spider Eye, 2 String, 3 Oak Doors, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 1 Chest, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Stick, 2 Torches, 33 Wooden Planks, 3 Cobblestone, 1 Iron Throwing Knife.

 **A/N: Another week, another chapter. Again written right on the deadline. I need to do something about this. Anyways, this chapter I kept a decent amount of references, both obvious, and others, not so obvious. And as always one to find any of them gets an acknowledgement and a Happy Cake ㇳ4 . Apparently Red has finally met a match of his! Even if that guy is a more of a sneaky little punk. Plus he seems to have the weird sense too, and Tyrone is not alone. And if it wasn't obvious by the exotic weapons Red wields, there will be mods like Tinkers Construct and others, like the Chocolate Quest mod (partial at the moment, may be implemented fully in the future.)** **Some things though, like the Redstone Hotline and Red's folding blade, are my own creations, because why the hell not? Also I thought this would be a good time to explain some of the mechanics of this world. To convert ticks into hours, There are 1000 ticks in an hour, hence a tick is 3.6 seconds. And the chunks I kept more or less same as that of normal Minecraft's system. A chunk is 16 blocks, each block is equal to a meter which makes one chunk 16 meters. As for the Crafters, I kept in a way to meld both Mincraft's own gameplay with a twist of reality. That is, while every entity has the amount of hearts they have in the game, anything that would realistically lethal, like a beheading (don't worry I won't add detailed Mortal Kombat style brutal decapitations, for the squeamish and those who think that this would make it rated M on Fanfiction) or any other lethal wound. So that means that even with a high health value, you never know when you're in danger. Now wrapping up, thank you all for viewing the chapter, if you liked it, press the favorite button with the most exotic weapon you got (unless it's a loaded flintlock pistol. I'm not in favor of you shooting your computer.) Or if you've already pressed it, write a review! (No need to use an exotic weapon this time.) Thank you all again for viewing, and this is AwakenedKarbon, signing off.**


	9. Chapter 9: Jailbreak

Chapter 9: Jailbreak.

 **A/N: Morning y'all, or afternoon…or evening… depends on your time zone, whatever. Another chapter here! And this time another winner for the… cue the drum roll and heavy exploding voice… EPIC PRE-CHAPTER REFERENCE COMPETITION AWARDS! This time the winner was someone else, none other than DarkWolf133. This isn't the first time, but I was entirely unaware of the Shadow Triad thing from being out of Pokémon. Not surprised, I've been out of the thing for at least six years. So I didn't know, and now what was to be a fully fledged faction turns out to be a already a shady group of ninja people who I fail to understand why would they need pet fire breathing monstrosities. Anyways, Dark and Wolf, enjoy your Happy Cakes and your acknowledgement.**

 **On to part 2 of every author's note from me (from now), replying to the other reviews.**

 **Re. Laner: First thing, don't worry about diabetes from these things. 100% sugar free t** **hey are. They're sweet cause… happiness. That's why. And thanks for how you liked the fight. Hopefully over time things will get more in depth and longer, especially in the fight scenes. I love writing those.**

 **Re noname8: Exactly. That was the plan. If the competition was running in that chapter I would've given you a Happy Cake. But it wasn't. All the less, find the reference here, and a Cake will be yours.**

 **[Red]**

"Red, the deal is simple. Just sign these papers and admit your crimes so we can put your soul at peace. And get ourselves a crap ton of money. Don't forget the money."

"Not like I get a share outta it."

I spat at Shadow and swore after that. He had me here for interrogation to get me to agree to some of my killings, for the bounty on me. Not that he would get anything out of me. Last thing I want is the most ironic death ever. Minecraftia's most badass bounty hunter killed due to the bounty on his head. No thank you.

Shadow taunted me. "Oh, so the little boy refuses to give up eh? Well, we'll see how much you would think so in _pain…_ " He said the last word with a hint of sadism. With a signal, a gruff man with a heavy frame (fits the stereotype perfectly) poked a piece of burning iron into my exposed flesh. I cried out in pain. I looked at the edge of my vision. That thing took off two and a half hearts! I coughed, trying to remove any pain from my voice. "Really? That's the best you could do? My mixtape burns harder than that." I said with mirth barely covering up my pain. Shadow clearly didn't like that as he hit me across the face.

"Take him to his cell! Let him rot there and think again about what he needs to do. Should fix his head."

' _Huh. So much for being the most badass bounty hunter in Minecraftia. Stupid Crafters. Leave 'em on their own for a little while, and they screw up everything.'_

Oh Notch. Now was the last place and time I expected Brain to come up and make this worse.

'Any ideas on how to get out of here? Even if you're a real literal headache, you got to have something in plan.'

' _Footsteps. Probably a guard. If that's the case, hide. I got a plan.'_

'Better not be crappy.'

I hid in the shadows, waiting. The cell door opened. As Brain thought, it was a guard alright, with a tray. He called out, "Prisoner! Food!"

I crawled out of the shadows, trying to look helpless. The guard looked at me with contempt, as though he was someone superior. He laid down the tray. "Eat." I picked up the stale and soggy loaf, and asked in probably in the most innocent tone I have in my existence, "Sir? Is this all there is?" The guard stopped, and spoke, "You're lucky you're even getting this. If I had an option, the prisoners wou- urgh!" I got him in a hold, my arm around his neck and blocking the airway. The guard was still struggling, and he could at any moment call out for help. Stupid as it sounds, it proved useful. I shoved the hideous loaf of bread in the guard's mouth, eliminating any sound whatsoever. He fell motionless, once I let him go.

' _Shoving the bread in his mouth felt less like an attempt to actually silence him, more of a shitty attempt at comic relief. But it worked all the less. Get his stuff. And the mask. It seems to hide the name of the person.'_

Brain was right. As I pried the mask off the guard's face, his name popped up above his head. Among other things, were an iron short-sword, clearly custom made, a bronze crossbow with a dozen quartz-tipped bronze bolts, and the guard cloak-armor thing, with a combination between a hooded cloak and a trench coat. It had weight, much heavier than what the cloth alone should've weighed. Protection confirmed then. I donned the cloak, and had a look at the mask. It seemed different. Not just by Minecraftian standards either. I sighed. There I go on one of my philosophical internal debates on my existence and purpose. I put the mask on, walked out, and didn't forget to close the cell door as I left.

I walked in a crouched form, trying to make myself a small target to be seen, and kept myself silent as I walked.

' _This is stupid. You literally look like one of them, they can't see your name, and if anything, you'll just draw attention to yourself like that. So get up and walk like a normal man.'_

"Right. Objective Number One. Get my stuff back. I need it. Objective Number Two. Get rid of Shadow. Last thing I want is him ruining another perfect bounty. How's it sound?"

' _Not bad, by your pathetic plan making standards. But it'll be no better than shit if you aren't gonna move.'_

I stood up, and head out to infiltrate this Shadow Triad. And get my stuff back. Don't forget the stuff. I walked out of the holding cells, and ended up in what seemed the main foyer of the rather large building. I'm impressed, considering the size of the organization itself. I walk over to random worker, identically dressed like the others, without drawing any attention to myself. I try to start a bit of small talk.

"So how's it goin' dude? How's work?"

He answered back unenthusiastically, while working at polishing a blade, "As usual. Why are you not working? You on break? Or what?"

I went with the flow. "Actually yeah. So whaddaya say 'bout Red being caught?"

His voice still had the same lack of enthusiasm. "Nothing much. It's not like we grunts were getting a cut out of that bounty money. Nothing on any stuff of ours getting upgraded either. I hear it's pretty damn cool, Syndicate tech."

"Sounds pretty cool. Any idea where someone could get a look at them, or something?"

He looked at me, and probably his expression would not be an amused one, if he weren't wearing that mask.

"And why would you want to do that?"

"Y'know, just…curious. Yeah. Wanted to see how this Syndicate stuff works. Before I joined this place I was a… an inventor. I used to make cool improvements to tools before all of this. That using Blaze Powder to inflict bring flames on-" I pointed to myself with my thumb. "My thing. Using pistons for knockback, my thing. So I was wondering if I could look at that, I may just make one of his cool-ass swords for you, Nether, all of us. So any idea?"

He seemed to have relaxed upon hearing my story, and casually answered, "Yeah it's just nearby, down the hall, second left, just get permission."

"Thanks." And I went on, down the hall, second left as he said, bumping into another busy worker on the way, with a mumbled "Excuse me." Is everyone busy here all the time? I opened the double door to another long path, assumingly the way to whatever would classify as an evidence locker or enemy equipment storage or something. I guess because I'm not authorized, means that…?

' _Yes, you can go around in your weird 'stealth walk' thing trying to not be seen. Yay.'_

I paid no heed, enjoying the moment. It'd been ages since I actually went with a stealth approach, being an all guns blazing type of person since day one. Literally. Just now I had no blazing gun, just a sword and crossbow, not my customized weapons, but I'll make do. I inched across, close to the wall, peeking around corners before moving on. Oddly, the place was much emptier than I had expected it to be. Not a soul in sight. I went on, moving from cover to cover, until I finally found people. And a lot of them. All at the same place, near the area of a door labeled: 'Reverse Engineering'. I shook my head. No bloody way. No one takes my stuff, breaks it down, and gives it to people trying to kill me. I climb up onto a conveniently placed ledge, to get a better view. Four people. All focused and ready to pounce at any threat. They're tense. And they're all the weakest when thrown off by something dangerous and unexpected. (How do I know that? Experience. That's how.) Like…

'Brain, get the air horns ready. Things are going to get serious. And get the camera out. This needs to get recorded.'

' _You better not be…?!'_

'I am. And please don't give me those meme effects in front of my vision afterwards.'

I drew my crossbow, loaded a bolt, and jumped.

Turned an entire circle in midair.

I aimed with my crossbow at a guard and fired.

The bolt went through his skull and he was a pile of gear instantly.

A plethora of air horn sounds reverberated though my skull, like last time when I was with Herobrine, just this time it's because of my n00b wrecking skills.

"GET NO SCOPED! GET NO SCOPED!"

I probably got carried away there. But it was worth it. The other two were mentally thrown off by what had just happened, and bit the dust soon after. I collected what was useful, and hid the remaining useless stuff the guards had under the ground. I walked into the Reverse Engineering room, to get my stuff back, after kicking down the door.

I checked around, trying to find my sword and Reason, and my potions and everything, but all I found was random stuff, like pictures of ocelots with some words scribbled on them, primarily concerning how _cute_ they are. People, with their weird obsession with cats, they be weird. Their Weird Sense really must get to them. But why are those here in a place for creating stuff contain cat pictures? Maybe there's something I'm missing in the puzzle. I began searching enthusiastically to solve the mystery, when a familiar voice popped up inside my head.

' _Really? Look at what you came here for, and what you actually doing. We came to get our stuff back, and you're trying to solve The Great Cat Picture Mystery. Now unless you want to be a sitting duck waiting for you're other stupid feline admirers, I say you get up and get your stuff done.'_

'You're…actually right. Even if I'm not a cat lover. Or a dog friend. I hate animals.'

' _Says the person who cried when he saw a sheep being killed in front of him on his first day by someone else.'_

'Shut up. That was like… a lifetime ago!'

' _Just get your stuff.'_

'Right.'

"C'mon, where'd these people put my stuff?"

I was still finding my tools, with no result, except an eye burn of a room for a neat freak. I had thrown whatever I found everywhere. And still I found nothing. "Guess it's probably in some hidden room then eh? Hehe… this isn't funny." I may have a sense of humor, sure, but not when it comes to losing my stuff. In a reconnaissance search to find this possible _hidden room_ , I find an exotically colored potion, almost hidden in all of the other junk I had around me. Picking it up, a thought generated in my mind, like it was with every new item.

"It seems to be called Prototype Sight Potion. Pretty straightforward for a name isn't it?" I took a sip, and I seemed fine. No weird in the stomach or major hallucinations as certain other potions. It seemed fine, except that I could see some things behind walls very faintly.

'Brain, what's happening to me?'

' _Something called Dark Vision, that's what. Seems to be a mixture of night vision and something which lets you see through walls is what I'm guessing. Chug it down. This should help in finding our stuff.'_

I did just that. The whole room illuminated somewhat, and I could see things across the wall, like items, and people. Now to just look for Reason, and my Cobalt Saber, Knifeshot, and all of my other gear and potions. Then get outta here, killing Shadow on the way if possible. But the gear is first priority. I turned my head around, searching for it.

"Not here, not here, not here, there. In the ceiling? Or on a floor above? Guess more climbing for me then. Or I could just break the floor and get through." In the junk, I found a conveniently placed stone pickaxe, alongside a stack of dirt.

'And what were these going to be converted into? Potato Pickaxes? Actually that doesn't sound that bad. Have a snack while mining. Even if they'll taste like stone.' I began pillar jumping my way to the ceiling, and then mined my way through the floor. I climbed out of the hole, and this is where the real science seemed to be happening. Well, not right now. It was empty, and a note on the table said,

'Out for some drinks. Should be back in half a Kilotick.

Don't touch anything.

Al.'

' _Apparently only the assassins here are the ones who care about their job here.'_

'Cause they're the only ones with a fun job.'

With the help of the Potion, I managed to home in on my stuff in a matter of ticks, and found it in a random chest labeled _Stuff We Don't Understand._ I opened it up, and found my armor and weapons below a sheet of paper. I had a look at it. Someone wrote:

'We have no idea how do most of this guy's tools work. His so called sword is just a handle and we can't open it up with any of our tools. So we're clueless on that, though this seems a cool concept, if what Shadow tells us is true. This wrist based knife launcher seems simple, but again, to find what causes the propulsion, we'll need to cut this nearly unbreakable bad boy open. The revolver or gun thing seemed to hold promise, but a single shot almost tore my arm off. Now if we could find a way to break it down and create a low-recoil version… That may prove useful in combat situations. Well, I ordered one of those heavy duty Steam Saws which should be able to open this stuff up. Al probably should be bringing it n the way back. I'm excited to see what makes it tick.'

"Well, sorry mate. You ain't getting nothing. Not my sword, not Reason, nothing."

I donned my own armor, rather than keep the pathetic cloaks they wear on. I have all I need. No need to fear anyone. But I decided to keep the mask. Its name hiding property should help a lot, especially considering how few have seen the Triad. I drew my saber out to full length, holstered Reason, and chose to keep using the crossbow. Not only did I get its ammo for free, it's silent and cheaper in the long run. Just needs a bit of tinkering around. I got out of the room, and now for what was objective 2.0. Find Shadow. Kill him for wasting your time and taking away your stuff. Not that bad of an idea. Now I just have to find someone who'll _cooperate._ I opened the door and found two workers conversing.

"Shall we gather for whiskey and cigars tonight?"

"One, what are those things and two, if they're good stuff, count me in."

"Kay. I'll go get em, we'll have some fun after the shift ends."

The two went their separate ways, one headed towards me. I hid in the shadows, trying not to be detected as he passed by, and then I began to _casually_ stalk him until I found him in a semi-secluded place, and I soon I placed the edge of my saber in front of his neck. He stopped dead as he felt a slight cut on his neck, and backed away into me.

"Wh-who-o a-are y-y-you?"

"Death." I said, knowing he can't see my face or name, may as well scare his skin off for my advantage. "Now if you don't want to say goodbye to this world, tell me where Shadow is, so I can fill my quota on one of your people."

"You can't have Shadow." He replied in a half scared, half resolute tone.

"Why not?" I brought my crossbow up to his face, loaded wit a bronze bolt.

"Be-because he's n-not here! Hehe, but if you want, there's a subordinate of his, an elder of ours who's stationed here. He might be able to help you. With information, and umm, your quota?"

"Thanks. And I'll reward you with a temporary pardon from death." The guard's fast lit up.

"Which lasted five seconds." I fired the bolt into his skull. No need to take unnecessary risks. Now to just take out an elder, get what info I can off the conveniently placed paper in every corpse's inventory who's a stepping stone to victory. It's unlikely this will happen this time. The Elder doesn't know he's about to get killed and leave any important notes in his pocket, so I guess I use my old Ghost Interrogation, probably the oldest in my book. I downed an Invisibility Potion, and headed down toward the biggest room in all other hideouts I've blown up of these insults to assassins. Their Banquet Hall. That's where the stupid fat bad guys line themselves up for the kill. I went down there and as I thought, I was right. Experience never fails me.

' _Because I gave you that experience. That's why you went through all of this and you not dead yet.'_

'Whatever.' There was a huge gathering of people, with well, the most expensive looking food I've seen in ages on that table. Mutton Steaks, Rabbit Stew with foreign carrots, succulent steak drowned in some other exotic sauce made from milk and magma cream, and…

' _We came here to kill and get info. Not to admire exotic foods.'_

' **But they look so delicious! And I don't have to be a gourmet to prove that!'**

' _*groan* Heart, really? And I thought I was free of your crap._ _'_

'And I'm not free of you two.'

I shushed the two as I approached the Elder seated on his enlarged and glorified seat and tapped his shoulder from behind.

"Hello," I whispered.

The Elder gave a slight jerk forward, but I calmed him down with a gentle but firm grip on the shoulder. "Not a word Mister…BillyLurker. Anyone hears of this, and you'll die. With almost all of your men. And women if any fight. Not to be sexist or anything that women can't fight and all."

The man was listening, at least to the second part. In an attempt to be discreet, through stiffened lips trying to keep a fixed expression, he whispered, rather quietly grunted,

"What, do you…want?"

"Nothing. Just tell me where Shadow is. I don't want to kill you. Or any of your elite bodyguards."

"He's where you'll never find him, because you'll never leave to find him. FIRE!"

One of his elite assassin guards fired a bolt at me, with me just getting grazed by the projectile. Too close for comfort. I countered with by firing a knife, which made one of them disappear, and show up a few blocks left of it. I drank down a Potion and felt the power of Strength II coursing through my veins. I rushed at one of the guards, and with one clean strike to the neck, his head came off and joined his loot pile.

'Hm. Free loot. Who lets a free upgrade pass by? Not me.'

A Steel Crossbow and its accompanying 26 Alumite Bolts began floating in the air and then they disappeared into the void that is my backpack.

' _Red, update. We're almost out of time for the invisibility. Best if we… y'know, skedaddle_

 _outta here?'_

'Nah mate. We don't leave without a bang. And I mean that literally.'

' _We can't blow this all up, y'know.'_

'That would've been good otherwise, but I know. I planned another bang. A Reasoning. Bang.'

I drew Reason and fired six rounds and five of them exploded.

The cloak timed out and I faded into view.

"Hello everyone, this is RedRinger. I'm here to thank you for your hospitality and say screw you all. It would've been nice if you'd let me know where Shadow is but…"

I shrugged. "You thought otherwise. I'll just now casually leave after announcing you've made the worst decision in your life. I then drank down a Potion Of Swiftness and rsn into the sunset. Like every badass does at some point, although I'm probably the first one to do it right after escaping a prison.

Inventory(Red): Reason, Cobalt Saber (Cobalt Longsword, Traits: Reinforced X, Beheading, Sharpness) Knifeshot, 60 Iron Throwing Knives, Splash Potion Of Regeneration, Potion Of Invisibility, 17 Bullets, Iron Short-Sword, Bronze Crossbow, 11 Bronze Bolts, Steel Crossbow, 26 Alumite Bolts, Bounty Hunter Vest, Bounty Hunter Leggings, Bounty Hunter Boots, Shadow Triad Mask.

Inventory(Tyrone): Same as Chapter 8.

 **A/N: Another day, another chapter, and one more missed deadline, by about a week. Because of tons of stuff. Halfway through the chapter I got a case of Writer's Block, and that followed up with school projects and some other of my other hobbies. And a bit of useless things *Cough* Watching Undertale *Cough* But on the plus side, this is a much larger chapter than most, so please don't take out the pitchforks and torches. I don't like an angry mob outside my house. Plus, this is the first chapter not to involve Tyrone at all. I wanted to write a chapter involving the jailbreak because why not, and although it probably had not much of direct effect on the plot in my view, but it did do a bit of character development on Red's side, with a bit of explaining of the Shadow Triad. (Who really are more than three, because triad means three, right?) As for the chapter, I happened to get more references than I had thought I could add. So as usual, find them and get a Happy Cake, though Herobrine's not in the mood to give 'em away any time soon. And as always, thank you very much for viewing, Follow, Favorite, Review, and this is AwakenedKarbon, signing off.**


	10. Chapter 10: Too Much In Too Little

Chapter 10:Too Much In Too Little

 **A/N: Karbon here. After about two weeks. Yes things have been real busy and all, and exams are coming up once again. (Yes I have a ton of tests every year) So while I may not suspend the chapter posting outright this time, I may slow it down to a biweekly release, like this one. But don't worry, this story won't die soon. Cuz the hope will never die! *plays dubstep***

 **As for the reference competition for last chapter, I'm slightly disappointed that no one found the references. But then, most of them were very specific game references, primarily from Dishonored (Best game I've played in a while) and one from the overall MLG compilation thing, with 360 no scopes and all. But no problem, all the more cakes for me and Herobrine. :)**

 **Herobrine: Yay!**

 **Onto review replying.**

 **Re: Laner: Thanks! It was adequate and fantastic, and the story is being continued, that's why your reply is here.**

 **Also, considering how the Fine Brothers were trademarking and copywriting things, and suing those who did not license themselves, I found it wiser to put up a disclaimer to, you know, not get sued by Mojang.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or Mojang. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this in the first place.**

 **P.S: I now have a betareader! Yay! *Fanfare* And we have over 500 views! *Double Fanfare***

 **Beta Read By: Should've been Dragstream, but I couldn't get it to him on time. So it's me.**

* * *

'So we're headed to a village. How far off that is?'

' _A few chunks. Not too far, if my calculations are right.'_

'Okay. I won't question you and your calculations. Don't want more of your crazy Weird Sense logic stuff. It hurts my head. Especially when I haven't slept properly since ever.'

' **Will there be free food?'**

' _Probably not. Even if there is, we ain't gonna take it. Don't want another killer freak on my tail.'_

' **But you don't-'**

' _It's a metaphor! Ty, do us a favor and actually go on with what we were doing before. Not worth it listening to us two fight ourselves. No matter how fun it is.'_

'Alright. On it.'

I walked into the horizon as the sun rose over Minecraftia toward this village, which under the book's notes said was occupied by some Testificate people. It was boring, the last few days, even if they were almost chock-full with a metric crap ton of near death experiences, it was boring and lonely, with a almost no one else to properly talk to without getting a blade in my face within a few moments. Except a very rude brain and an overactive heart who loves ice cream. Otherwise, I felt…alone. I wanted a friend, a comrade, or, whatever there is along those lines.

"Is that another cow?" I asked myself aloud, even if there was no one to talk to. I must be going insane. A few days into the initial entry.

' _Yes it is. And you're not yet going insane, yet. Otherwise I'd let you know.'_

'And how will you do that?'

' _Don't worry. You'll know. I should go and yell gibberish and other crap like any other madman, or madbrain, to be technically correct. So go out there and kill that cow for me laddie.'_

'This is going to be fun. Maybe. If I don't a blade to the neck from some Minecraftia Wildlife Agency operative.'

' _Meh, don't freak out. One, that stuff probably doesn't exist. Second, you'll probably be able to run from that too. That's the only thing you're good at.'_

' **And falling! Falling is fun!'**

I drew my Stone Sword, drowning out the words from within my subconscious, and began striking at the ruminant, if that's a proper term for these cows.

"Mooh! Muoh!"

It _mooed_ in pain, running around until I put it out of its misery, exploding into meat and leather.

"Great. More meat that I have no idea how to cook."

' _Maybe someone in the village knows how to do something about it. Maybe Testificates are like smart Crafters who know how to do their stuff.'_

'All the more reason to head over there now.'

I walked on into the forest, following the directions. And I went on, looking at the map in the book, and following it on and on until I tripped over something. A baby sheep (or do you call those things a lamb?).

"Baa."

I held my sword in a reverse grip, blade downward, aimed at the lamb.

"Sorry sheepy, but no one trips me like that, and I'm hungry, and no one is going to miss you."

' **Stop! This lamb has a family! Don't hurt him!'**

'We need the food. And there's no proof this thing has a family.'

"Die sheep."

I brought the blade down, and the sheep exploded into dust with another baa.

"There's no mutton, or any meat here. Brain, check your stuff. Anything about baby animals and drops?"

' _Nope. But I have a feeling that we may as well be in trouble now.'_

'And why is that?'

' _It's written here in meats safe for Crafters include beef, chicken, fish, salmon, mutton, and others. Mutton. That means mutton does exist, and it comes from sheep. But we got nothing. That maybe means that baby animals probably drop nothing, and now I'm stretching this, but maybe we're not supposed to kill baby animals, and, yeah. We're in trouble now.'_

"Hey you! Stop right there! You are under arrest for assault and murder of an animal young!" A voice came from somewhere in the forest.

"Speak of the devil." I spoke to myself.

The source of the voice ran out of the foliage, bow in hand. He seemed to be wearing some sort of panda suit (weird sense again) and pointed his readied bow at my chest. His name: FinnThePanda. Now that is a huge name.

"You! Surrender yourself! And we shall treat you with mercy!" Finn announced in my face, flecks of spit coming out.

I put my hands up, but answered, "And why would I do that? You're not my boss. This is the Minecraftian wilderness. You have no power here."

' _Not bad Ty, considering there's no stuttering and stuff from you. As there normally is.'_

Finn readjusted the bow at my head, grip tightening on the wood, and drawing the string further back, almost to the point of it snapping. "Yield or I will make show of force!"

I brought my raised arms lower, elbows at waist height, and palms facing him, as though pushing the air away.

"Whoa, we got a badass over here. I'm not fighting you mate. I'm sorry." My hands slowly inched backwards as I tried once again to stall a potential threat. Last time, it didn't go too well.

"I didn't know I wasn't supposed to kill baby animals, honest." I slowly stepped back.

"And if I could, I'd change things. And I may as well do that. By eliminating a potential threat!" I threw the iron knife I retrieved earlier in Finn's general direction as his eyes widened in shock.

*Thunk*

' _Now that… is called an epic fail.'_

' **At least it's still epic!'**

' _That means it's a really bad failure. As in really, really bad.'_

' **Oh.'**

Finn opened his eyes, and looked down his body, lightly sighing in relief that he had no trace of metal in him. He then looked into my eyes, bow drawn.

"My. Turn." He said through gritted teeth.

"Die."

He let go of the bowstring with a twang as the arrow flew toward me. I closed my eyes, half prepared for the worst. My whole life flashed in front of my mind's eye, like in any near – death situation for the good guys.

' _Guess that means we're the good guy. And that means we don't die until we end up against some near unstoppable divine-ish being who's hell-bent on destroying the world and we sacrifice ourselves in some epic last stand. So we're off the hook for now.'_

 _'Hopefully.'_

 _*Thunk*_

 _'Told ya.'_

The arrow had embedded itself in the tree trunk behind me. Guess that means both of us are newbs then. Real newbs. Just he's less newb, and he's unpredictably angry. And what do I do when things seem unpredictable?

Only one thing. If you guessed stress management techniques, I guess you don't know what it feels like during fight or flight.

 _'I doubt it was that bad. We coulda just talked him out of it. If not, we talk to him 'till he's so confused he gives up.'_

'Nah mate. The only safe thing I do, is one thing.'

 _'Well then tell what the hell it is!'_

'Fine. *sigh* I wanted to bring up some more hype. It's run. I ran. All the way away from Finn.'

I ran, and he followed in hot pursuit, with a stone sword similar to mine. I darted through the forest, moving left and right around the oak trees, trying to throw him off. But the little punk just wouldn't give up! I looked back every time, and he's still there. No further than before. My hunger was going down fast, ticking down from eight drumsticks to seven, six, five...

 _'STAHP!'_

I stopped dead at the yell in my head and saw what called for stopping me. A ravine. A really, really wide, deep and bloody huge ravine. I can't explain it more than that without sounding over-dramatic. I could hear the sounds of Finn's shoes crunching the grass. The sound was fast, and loud.

'What's the plan now?'

 _'Multiple options. One, we take this guy out.'_

'I'm not so sure about that one. It'll be hard, plus morals and everything.'

 _'Then two, we hold our ground and apologize with all our heart.'_

'He doesn't seem to keen on that.'

 _'Three, we bullshit our way out of this.'_

'Says the brain of the worst smooth talker in the whole damn world.'

The crunching of grass became really loud and I could see Finn's name.

 _'Four-'_

 **'We jump!'**

'Best idea.'

"Sayonara, sucker! ...If that's how you say it." And I leapt off of the cliff, trying to reach the other side, while looking like I'm jogging in the air, cause that makes you jump farther over long distances, right? Amiright?

' _I guess no.'_

I hit the rock wall face-first, and slowly slided down, face still stuck to the wall. If he wasn't me, I would've laughed at the comical sight.

Problem is, it was me. And it's not funny when all you see is a ton of rocks in your face, feel every one of them, and all of them hurt.

'Ow. Ow. Oww! Stop!' I complained in my thoughts, not wanting a inconveniently sharp rock cutting my mouth. No one wants that. If they do, I don't know what to say.

A handful of painful seconds later was a moment of relief, which was followed with a painful realization.

"Goddammit."

' _Free Fall The Third. Wow. You just can't seem to spend a day without falling, can you?'_

' **What's the problem with that?! Falling's fun!'**

'I just hope I end up in water a third time. Weird sense says third time's a charm. I have a feeling it's a bad luck charm. If that's the case, then… Rip for me.'

' _I call dibs for his sword. Taught him how to make it.'_

*Splish!*

'Dude, seems the water makes a different sound each and every time I end up in it. Gets less dramatic each and every time.'

*Vrrp*

' _And that, is how the situation compensates for the lack of epicness for the fall. With another life or death situation. Because letting us live in peace is too mainstream. Ain't I right, Minecraftia?'_

 _*Vrrp*_

I saw a… figure in the limited light, something jet black in color, yet a bit of purple in its eyes. They were menacing. And were clearly made to intimidate. To instill fear in its prey. And that prey was probably me. This… thing reminded of something from my weird sense, something that originated from something having to do with scary spaghetti. Or something like that. Just that thing didn't have eyes. This thing did. Stick thin, and scary. And the best thing I thought to do was eliminate the threat up close and fast.

It resulted in me doubting my decision making skills. My battle cry called it's attention to me, and easily it slapped me into a wall with both of its arms before teleporting somewhere else, and then slapping me from behind into another wall.

'Ow, Brain, status.'

' _It deserves the Ow. We lost around, shit, seven hearts. We have to get out of here!'_

'Good Idea. Beats fighting to death. I never liked Slapsticks anyway.'

And I ran. Again. For the umpteenth time in today. Running into the darkness, and drew a torch to see the path once I was a safe distance away.

'Seems we're safe. Even if the condition of my body says otherwise.'

 _'And it seems not a day goes without us having to stomach bad food. Cause we'll have to eat that raw beef to survive, cause spider eyes don't seem the most delectable choice, even in a survival scenario. So eat. Chomp it all down, or at least the bare minimum to bring our health above two hearts.'_

'I don't like the idea of biting into a possible slab of disease, but... guess that's better than kicking the bucket, biting the dust, whatever..."

I pulled out the heaps of meat from my backpack, and then stopped.

 _'What's stopping you?'_

'I don't have anything cool to say before eating this. Like you know, cool badass survivalists have?'

 _'Does it matter? You're no badass survivalist. So all that matters is you actually survive. Plus, all that crap is scripted.'_

I sighed, and began eating the raw slabs of beef, as my hunger began to tick up, and soon my health followed, with one piece of beef remaining.

'We need to do something about food.'

 _'You don't say?'_

'I'm going to find the surface. Follow if you want.'

 _'Do I have a choice?'_

Walking on with torch in hand, and other hand on the wall, I soon felt multiple irregularities, followed with... something, plant. I looked in that direction, and found something different about the rocks themselves. They seemed to have something growing on them.

 **'Weirdness means treasure! Let's bust down and get in!'**

'And what is the chance that it is actually something that will kill me?'

 _'Pretty much. But mostly the stuff that kills comes in the dark. We have a torch. A torch creates light. Light removes darkness. If darkness is removed, monsters are also removed. So we get in, torch in hand. We'll probably live through it. We always do.'_

I took a deep breath. 'Okay, but this was your decision, not mine.'

I took out my Wooden Pickaxe and hit away and the plant rock, until it cracked, to give me a block called: 'Mycelium'. I broke down another block of it, and opened up myself a passage, to find myself a small room with a chest, and a cage with something spinning in it. A closer look got me an expected response.

 **'Ermahgahd Zambis! Break the thing! Break it! BREAKITBREAKITBREAKIT AND THEN KILL IT WID FIRE!'**

'Woah, woah. A bit of light should be enough. I hope.'

I put down one of the torches, and the spinning of the zombie seemed to slow down, but the cage seemed to spit fire into the air and then a rotting walking corpse came lumbering toward me.

"Ihhh..." Which was followed up with another Zombie popping out of it.

"Ihhh..."

"Heart was right. I should've broken it and killed it with fire."

I drew my sword and began assaulting the zombies. Striking one in the arm, and crippling the other's legs with one swoop, dropping the latter and reducing it to a crawl. I then beheaded the crawler with a guillotine chop, and result was a pile of rotten flesh. The other zombie died of a sword in the neck, courtesy of yours truly.

' _Fatality. Tyrone wins.'_ Brain quipped.

I smiled, and went to open the chest. Inside, I found two ingots of iron, another loaf of bread (heart rejoiced on that) and… some sort of rock with an insignia, or type of mark on it. Something was amiss. Then the mark seemed to expand, tendrils coming out of it, grabbing onto my hand, then forearm, elbow-

' _Just throw time damn thing away!'_

"I-I can't!" I cried out in gritted teeth, when I heard a familiar voice.

"Tyrone! Where are you! You still have to answer for your actions!"

I made am effort to call for him. "F-finn! O-over-"

The tendrils had covered me over.

* * *

When I woke, it was much brighter than before, and a lot less friendly.

'Where in the actual potato am I? Is this a dream? Will I find any flying pigs here? Brain?'

Silence.

'I have a bad feeling about this.' I thought, feeling even more alone than before. I don't even have eccentric organs to talk to now. I checked my bag for my sword, only to find no bag, or sword.

I gulped very audibly. Either I'm dead due to that thing, or shit is about to seriously go down badly. I walked on, extremely cautious and worried about what was to happen next. As I walked on the white stone path, things began getting eerier and creepier. The path steadily moved from being but a path to the only piece of land in a complete void. "Something is clearly not right." I talked to myself. More walking. God, how much am I going to walk!?

About half a minute of more walking led to some sort of structure; some sort of abandoned house. Creepy. The path seemed to lead there, and there was no way around. Do a 180, and there's no path behind me. Take a step forward, and you fall into the void. Which I didn't take. Leaving me with the only option of creepy house place. I knocked on the door. "Hello?" No answer. I shouldn't be surprised. It's an abandoned house, why would someone answer? I tried the door knob, and the door opened into a wide lobby.

A step forward, and a lightly colored mist formed before me. I stopped dead, and not because I was scared. My feet had stopped working entirely. So had my arms, and pretty much every muscle I could control. I was a frozen statue, but made of flesh. And then a person materialized out of the mist. One wearing a wreath of leaves on his head covered in white-gray hair. He wore some sort of black and gray tunic, and a brown cape covered his back and shoulders. Despite the age his hair told, his features were rather young, and seemed untouched by age. The man spread his arms and gave a slight bow, not talking his eyes off me.

"Hello Tyrone. I see that you are one chosen by fate. You are one who will eventually play a role in the events to come, and for that I have drawn you into the Void, my dimension. A plane in the world of Minecraftia where no one has been able to step into for the past...million years. Nether, no one has been here except me since the creation of this world. Even if they somehow stepped in here, they would just die. No one can survive in the Void."

I wrinkled my forehead in skepticism. "Then how come you aren't dead? You seem fine to me."

The thing answered back calmly, as though expecting the answer. "Yes, that was a question I was expecting from you. It would be a shame if you didn't. All this effort to bring someone here, and then it's someone who doesn't notice a thing. The answer is simple, yet no one will believe you if you tell them. Most Crafters believe that there are only two deities in Minecraftia, Notch and Herobrine. One signifying the creator of Minecraftia, and the other being the rejected, the exiled. This mistreatment by his brother led to rage and jealousy to fester in Herobrine, who rose against his brother, saying he was not granted his due in his part of making the world."

I scratched my head, confused. "I'm sorry, but what? I honestly haven't been in this world for more than a week, so could I get a crash course on this whole _divine lore_ thing?

The person sighed, but said, "Fine. A long time ago, there was only the Void. As is in all origin stories. Then, it is believed that Notch came into the Void, and with his powers and the aid of a legendary tool created the basics of the world. Then came Herobrine, a _glitch_ as Notch called him, but accepted him all the same. The two began laying the framework of the world, first block by block, then chunk by chunk, and Minecraftia slowly increased in size. Then I entered the scene, and I was granted great liberties by Notch to shape the world of Minecraftia for the better. I was given powers to modify the laws of the world, and this." He showed me a small block with multiple colored dots on it. "This was a Command Block, and it led to great development in the creation of the world. It allowed its wielder to do nearly anything, and I used this to a great extent, eventually toiling away till the World Of Minecraftia became what it was, and giving it a greatness not even dreamt of by Notch. In fact, there are many historians who have proven that I am one who should be called the true Master Of Minecraftia, but fear of Notch's believers they keep secret, lest the truth leads to a massacre. The truth is, the real Master Of Minecraftia, is I, Jens Bergensten, the Third Deity. Yet, like Herobrine, I am bound in exile."

This was just getting crazier. Answers led to questions, which got answers, which led to more questions. "I thought Herobrine was a person… so he's actually some sort of deity? And one more thing. Herobrine was probably a bad guy. But why did Notch kick you out?"

Jens took a deep breath, and explained, "It all began with the Crafters. Sentient beings, aimless, and looking for someone to turn to. They turned to all of us, whoever was in reach. But slowly, more and more Crafters came to me with offerings and requests, as Notch had given me, as I told you, more powers in this world than himself even. Also these powers eventually were my undoing. For Notch feared for himself, that he will lose all he worked for and that Crafters would consider me, instead of him for creating Minecraftia. Which was technically true. But nope, Notch wanted all the glory and honor to himself. And he was scared of me. As a result, he exiled me to the Void, and destroyed Herobrine's body and banished his soul to the Nether."

I was starting to understand the situation here, that what had been happening. "Seems Notch was a prettyhuge asshole. Sorry."

"You don't need to, as if you help me, he may as well be gone soon. In exchange, I will grant you forces in this world, ones which Crafters would call magic, and these forces would be under your command, through the power of my Mark. He grabbed my hand with his, and the back of my hand began to burn. I winced, but Jens stayed as he was, and in a moment, he let go. Indeed, there was a mark on the back my hand, like a branding of some sort, with the same insignia as the rune that brought me here in the first place. "Now to show you how strong these powers are, try to get over there." A platform materialized around 20 meters in front of me. I questioned Jens on this. "And how am I supposed to get over there? I can't fly, even if I jump all I can."

Jens looked up at me after he finished keying in something into his Command Block. "Just focus on the destination, and think of teleporting there with the power of the Mark."

I answered confused, "And how do I use this power of the Mark?"

Jens didn't explain, he just said, "Like this." He then half clenched his fingers into an open fist, looked at where he wanted to go, and when he opened the fist, he's already over there. My jaw dropped down at the impossibility of that. No one can move from A to B that fast. "Now you try it." I mimicked what Jens did. Change the power, focus on location, and then fly at light speed. The whole situation went fine, except that I ended up several blocks above ground, and landed with a thud. "Not bad for a start. The Blink is an easy to learn Power, but hard to master. But I would like to let you know it is time for you to leave. Your powers will stay with you, but will be heavily limited outside my realm, at least until Notch has been dealt with. There are other powers in other corners of the world, in the form of runes like the one you found. Eliminate Notch, or even just dethrone him, and you shall be rewarded greatly, as will other Crafters who knew the truth. "

"Wait, before you send me back there, you think you could tell me any thing of how to do something about Notch?"

Jens seemed to faintly smile on that. "About it, I shall give you a name, one which you are well acquaintanced with. Esme."

"Oh fuuu-" was all I could answer after this revelation as I returned to Minecraftia.

* * *

I was again at the dungeon where I was before, just without rune tendrils all over my face. I checked the back of my left hand, the Mark was still there all right.

' _Hey, I heard of what happened. Apparently we got some cool-ass powers that let us teleport around like that Slapstick thing. But he told me it's overly limited, and no more than 16 blocks in any direction. Oh, and the thing will eat through our hunger faster than almost everything. Teleporting 2 blocks will use half a drumstick, so pretty much we can only teleport 40 blocks before we're starving to death. So don't go around TP-ing everywhere. It'll kill us. But it may have some use…'_

"Tyrone! Show yourself!" Finn's voice went through the ravine's cave system again. And it was close. I smiled. "Brain, we might be able to pacifist our way through this one."

' _Well, you better not screw it up then.'_

I called back to the voice. "Hey Finn! I'm over here! One versus One me mate! Mano a mano! Let's finish this!" The familiar panda suit came up into view, with an exhausted wearer. Clearly not used to falling into stuff. He was really impatient about this. He drew his stone sword. "Alright. Finally I can be done with this. Was starting to doubt the worth of chasing you."

I grinned. "Well, prepare to be surprised." I drew my own stone sword. We both charged at each other, just that Finn only ran into nothing but air. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

The smile on my face remained constant. "Right behind you." And then Finn had a stone blade at his neck. He silently begged for mercy. After all, he was at my mercy. If I wanted, I could just pull my arm back and end it. But that just doesn't make a good story. My smile turned into an ear to ear grin, which led to erupted into laughter. The blade moved away from his neck and he looked at me confused.

"What's so funny?"

"The fact that if it were you, things wouldn't be the same. And the fact that you had no idea what was going on." I restarted laughing. From moistened his lips and said, "Thanks. For letting me go. And everything."

Now for part two. "Who said I let you go? I only spared you. You're still in debt for your life. But I could cut you some slack on that. On one condition. You come with me, we go all over the world. Have fun."

Finn seemed skeptical. "And why would I want to go with an animal killer?"

"Simple. One, we go and save animals where they are being mistreated and over hunted. And second, so I can redeem myself in your eyes. That I'm not a cold blooded animal hunter, but a misunderstanding newb Crafter."

"You fight a lot better than a newb though." Finn answered.

"That's, a secret of mine. I read it somewhere. Let's just keep it at that. So, are you coming?"

"For now. But as soon as I find my debt gone, or you assaulting any animal, I may as well leave you, and probably kill you."

"No problem. Even a temporary companion is still better to talk to than self conscious organs." I mumbled the last part. For all I know, I may be the only weirdo who's heart and brain speak. So better to stay quiet about that.

"So Finn, what do you want to do next? I'm pretty clueless."

"How about getting out of this Notch-forsaken place of a cave first?" The panda man answered back with little emotion or energy, as though he wanted to do something else.

I nodded. "Good point. I know a village up ahead. We might find a place to stay there."

"So we... backtrack our way out of here?"

"What else? We go further in, who knows what else we find in there? Backtracking is the safer idea, and it'll probably save us energy and food."

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled. Which reminded me of something I needed to learn.

"So, how does one cook things here? Do you have like an Easy-Cook Stove or anything? And don't ask about the Easy-Cook thing. I have no idea where that came from."

"Sorry to say, Tyrone, but there's no such than as an Easy-Cook here. But the closest thing to that is cooking the meat in a furnace."

"Wait..." I looked at him skeptically. "I thought you were an animal lover. Why would you go for meat eating? Plus, meat should go, I dunno, burned real bad in a furnace, by logic?"

Finn's expression darkened at the first statement. "My actions are of no concern to you. And the meat turns out just fine." He then stared at me, and my blank expression. "You do know how to make a furnace, do you?"

I shook my head.

Finn facepalmed, and groaned. "Wow. I lost to someone in combat to someone who doesn't even know how to make a furnace. I really need to work on my combat once I'm over with you."

"So how do you make a furnace?"

Finn took a breath of resignation, accepting that he will have to deal with a newb for a long time. "Do you have a Crafting Table?"

"Nope. Should I make one?"

He nodded.

Placing four planks on the Crafting Matrix of my backpack, I get the familiar Crafting Table in my hand. I looked at Finn. "Done. What's next?"

"Get eight blocks of cobblestone."

Complying, I mined away at the rock face until I had 8 cobblestone, like Finn said.

"Now put them all in the crafting grid, leaving the middle space."

I did, and the result was a block with two openings called 'Furnace'.

"Now all you need to do is put it down, put the meat or whatever in the top hole, and any fuel you have in the bottom, like coal. You have some I take it."

I smiled. "You took it right."

I did as Finn told, and in a matter of time, I had a succulent piece of steak ready to eat. I wolfed it down immediately. I wiped my mouth, and chirped (or something like that) "Ready to go?"

* * *

I looked at the sign above the Village Gate.

"Welcome to Random Village. So creative." These were Finn's words, coming out after an hour of silence. Our travel was more or less silent, none of us speaking a word since our furnace discussion. We were greeted by a cheerful humanoid, with an oversized nose. Focus on oversized nose.

"Hello! I am Testificate Number 1337, but people call me Leet. How can I be of service today?"

Finn spoke up. "I need a place to stay, Leet. Anything on where I could bed down."

I added in. "You mean we right? Where we could stay?"

"No. I meant what I said."

"Okay." I slightly inched away.

Leet answered our mutual question. "Sorry, but we don't have any place to stay for Crafters, but we do let people construct their own. At a cost. An emerald a night. You can pay in the morning."

"Thanks." I answered and turned to Finn. "If you need me, I'll be working on a shelter of dreams."

"I'm not so sure on how good the shelter is." Finn questioned my skills.

It was just a 3x3x3 box with a door. But it was my box.

"Well, I'm hitting the sack. G'night Finn."

At least this time I won' t be woke up with a danger call.

* * *

Inventory (Tyrone): Wooden Sword (Fairly used), Stone Sword (Fairly Used), Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), Wooden Pickaxe (Fairly Used), Wooden Hoe, Wooden Shovel (Barely Used), 1 Steak, 1 Compass, 1 Book (Federation Map Of Lustace District), 1 Map (Bur's Mine), Book (Welcome To Mincraftia) 2 Coal, 1 Boat, 1 Leather, 1 Spider Eye, 2 String, 2 Oak Doors, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 1 Chest, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Stick, 1 Torch, 8 Wooden Planks, 3 Rotten Flesh, 3 Iron Ingots, 2 Mycelium.

Inventory (Red) : Same as Last Chapter.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh. Lord. This chapter. Finally done. Finally. It was a lot longer than all the others I've done so far. At least that will be one good thing resulting from the temporary biweekly thing. Longer better chapters. Well, I have little more to say. Thank you for reading, Review, Favorite, Follow and this is AwakenedKarbon, signing off.**


	11. Chapter 11: Memories and Dreams

**Chapter 11: Memories and Dreams.**

 **A/N: Morning Y'all, Karbon here. For once, seems I finally got this chapter on time for the deadline. Maybe these biweekly things worked better than I had thought they would. It seems that I can write much better now, with sufficient time to think and write. Or maybe it was just that I had my priorities straight this time. Doesn't matter. As long as it's done, it's done.**

 **Onto review replies and rewarding. Later, it seems you really love sweet stuff made from exotic ingredients. Being on top when it comes to winning the food rewards wherever it may be. You won the Cake once again. FinnThePanda is from Adventure Time alright, well not exactly. Finn there is a human. Not a panda. (Though that would be really cool.) So now without further ado, a cake is yours.**

 **And it seems cool to be the first for giving Jens a much more powerful role compared to other stories. As for the chapter up ahead, I'll say that I've added one of the best references from one of the best games I've seen. So this time, not just a cake, but one gets the Karbon Seal Of Approval as well from me. (Though I'm a bit confused on how I'll do that.)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or Mojang. If I did, it would have a better dual wielding system, much earlier.**

 **Beta Reader: Dragstream**

[Tyrone]

I woke up in another void. Again.

Only this time, it seemed less hostile and bleak. It felt… peaceful, calming, relaxing; or something more along those lines.

'Brain, you there?'

 _'Zzz...'_

'At least that means it's not one of those Rune induced dreams and I won't wake up with tendrils on my face.'

"Hello? Anyone out there? Hello..." I called out. No answer.

'No one out there. Guess I have to find my way out myself.'

I tried to take a step forward, only to feel no further than before. By instinct I looked down at my feet to see what was wrong.

This was a total void, full of emptiness, unlike the Void at Jens' place, where there still was solid ground.

'Well, what's next for me then?'

"What is next for you is to meet your maker." A booming voice echoed throughout the void, vibrations hammering at my ears and ribcage.

'That sounded bad.'

"It may, if you follow the wrong path and refuse to join the path of the heretics. At least, that is what my people would call you." The second sentence came in less loudly. Stress on less and loud. Because it was still loud enough to make Brain scream in pain, even though he was asleep.

 _'Gah! Who was that!? C'mon who was that? Who messes with my beauty sleep!? I'm gonna sock 'em, whoever it was. Notch or whoever! They're gonna be getting rekt mate!'_

"I admire the confidence of your subconscious, Tyrone. A shame I can't say the same about you."

As if on cue, the speaker floated down to me out of the blue. With a powerful movement of his hand, a slab of land appeared in the void, and gravity took over, dropping me on the stone surface.

"Ow." That was falling for the fourth time, and it hurt. Some people love making me fall, don't they?

The person who caused this however, glided down, unaffected by what happened to me. I got up, rubbing my knee, and asked, "What was that for?"

The man simply answered, "As a light punishment for entering a conflict where you were never called into. Jeb-" The man shook his head, his bald head reflecting the light of the void into my eyes, blinding me. He took a breath, and his small beady eyes looked into my chocolate-brown ones. "Jeb brought you into this, didn't he?"

I stammered. "Uhhh, what makes you think so? I don't know any Jeb."

The man sighed "Jeb, Jens, Bergensten, they're all the same person; The Third Administrator. I am the First."

My head went recoiled in surprise. "Wasn't Jens, or Jeb as you call him, the Third Deity or something like that? Cuz that's what he told me."

A pale palm collided with the bald forehead. "Dammit Jeb, how many times I have to tell him that he's nowhere near divine or anything. Just because he has a Command Block doesn't make him one with divine powers. And that is why I put him in the Void. Minecraftia is better with less people like him. Even if as a person, he is super OP."

Realization dawned on me as I thought aloud. "Wait, if you are the First and made the Command Block, and banished Jens, or Jeb, to the Void; that would make you-"

The man nodded. "Yes, I am Notch, and I am disappointed on how slow you picked that up. Jeb must be rather desperate to be recruiting weaklings like you; who doesn't even catch up in a matter of 50 ticks."

I spoke up. "Jens says you're a cheat."

Notch said nothing, only nodded his head. "Not exactly. If I recall correctly, he called me a usurper who exiled him because I was scared that he would take my authority. Though you rather, oversimplified it."

My head recoiled at the somewhat decent accuracy which he answered me with at the situation in hand. "And just how do you know all this?"

"Simple, I just listened to your whole conversation in the Void. I didn't leave Jeb unattended; even in a place where he was more or less useless. I had a feeling things like this would happen at some point, and I was right on the mark, it seems."

"You're a stalker, that's what."

"Call me what you will, it would not change history. Or the past and future. Because it is written by the victors, not those who are defeated and lost in history; like you will be."

"I'm... not so sure about being defeated. I've said hello to death and slapped it in the face a lot of times already." I spread my arms out. "See? Perfectly fine; in one piece."

"I wonder for how long." A glowing blue sword materialized in Notch's hand. He showed me the blade. "I made this sword specifically for this moment. Complete with Command Block induced Enchantments. One strike, one kill. Goodbye Tyrone. It was nice not knowing you." Notch then charged at me, sword raised.

 _'Blink out of here!'_

'Right.'

I raise my hand and aim for the ground behind Notch, and clenched my fist. I felt reality compress upon me, and in a split second, I'm behind Notch; out of harm's way.

"Can't we reason this out in peace?"

Hearing my voice, Notch turned around and slashed at me. I brought my Stone sword in defense just in time.

"The answer is simple. I don't reason with conspirators. It's safer to take them out. No worry of watching over them afterwards."

"Wow. I should probably take you out then; because literally Jeb is the only one who didn't try to kill me in the entire conversation, at all. And he wants you dead, or useless." The clash was starting to move away from my favor as the blue blade overpowered my grey one. "And I'll oblige." I tried a kick at Notch, but he easily dodged it, twisting his torso.

Notch moved away from the clash, electricity coursing through the blade. "That was a bad move. But, I may give you one option. Lay down your weapon. Give your allegiance to me, and I'll spare you."

"How sure can I be of this?"

Notch laid down his weapon. "This sure."

I shrugged my shoulders. Not a bad idea. Plus, I don't know if I die in dreams if die in real life, but why take a chance? "Okay, I'm with you."

I laid down my sword.

"Step away from the sword."

I followed, and moved a few steps away from the only means of defense I had that would break into splinters the moment it meets a sword that's stronger than stone.

"Is this far enough?"

"Yes it is. Now come over to me and let me give you my mercy, and mark you as one my faithful agents." I waited as he came closer, but I felt... something wrong. He came close, and gently gripped my shoulder.

"Don't worry, this isn't going to hurt one bit."

My gut instincts were acting up. Something was about to go down.

And it did.

In a fraction of a second, or a tick as these people call it, the sword Notch had left over there was in his hand again, and he stabbed me through the chest. The pain was extremely excruciating. I coughed blood, and asked, "Why?"

Notch drew his blade out of me. "Get dunked on." He dropped me on the floor, and brought his blue blade onto my head with a sadistic smile.

"GAH!"

I woke up, banging my head on the roof. My breathing was heavy, and loud. I was drenched with sweat all over. I asked myself, "What in the flying potatoes just happened?"

 _'We died in a dream, nothing special. Happens every day.'_

 **'The non-existent sword still hurts!'**

'Well, hehe, on the positive side, I know I don't die in a dream, and-" I checked my bag. Everything was still there. "I still have everything too. Heh, hehe- I don't wanna die!" I gripped my head in frustration.

 _'I think everyone thinks so. Well, not everyone. But then, life is trying to live it best before dying peacefully. There's so much out there; even if the majority of people aren't really the best.'_

An impatient knocking came on the door.

"Wake up! We're under attack by zombies!" It was Leet.

"Aren't zombies, like not supposed to be alive right now?"

"Yes, they aren't supposed to, but this is a zombie siege! They don't burn! They're wearing helmets!"

I opened the door, and as expected, Heart freaked out. There were at least 20 something zombies out there, all hammering at the doors of the houses or hunting down villagers.

 **'ERMAHGAHHHD! TOO MANY ZAMBIS!'**

'Heart, your yelling isn't helping!'

I drew my Stone Sword.

'On the plus side, I'll have food for days; if you can even call it food.'

I raised my blade and charged right into the horde.

"For Existence!"

 _'You've been yelling that for too long. We need something else for you to say.'_

'I don't have time to think; too busy running from bad experiences all the time.' I replied to my subconscious as I struck a zombie in the neck.

 _'Speaking of bad experiences, where's Finn?'_

I cut down the zombie I had engaged before, with it dropping a piece of rotten flesh alongside a helmet of leather.

'Something to ponder on. Time to find a better place to look from.'

I Blinked my way up a roof of a villager's house, and scouted the area to find Finn's shelter; the place where we had camped was covered in trees, and made it hard to find the house Finn had made. I called out.

"Finn! Finn! Where are you?!"

 _'I have a pretty good feeling he's sleeping.'_

[Shelter (Finn)]

Tyrone's Brain had things more than correct.

Finn had been sleeping alright; oblivious to the chaos ensuing outside and the major calls of help from Tyrone.

"Finn! Finn! Where are you?!"

He hadn't slept like this in a long time, not having to deal with the wilderness of the dangers coming with it. Plus, if he slept through till night again, he could sneak out without paying at night. It was probably for the better that he had gotten those sleep-inducing potions the other day. Not only do they give good sleep, they'd work as an ideal excuse for not coming out the whole day; saying that the composition was too strong, or something like that. A heavy knock came on the door; loud enough to partially wake Finn up.

"Uhhh, c'mon, lemme sleep. Haven't had the time in ages."

The knock came again, louder; as though trying to break the door off of its hinges.

"I told you, I'm not in the mood of waking up!"

A dead groan was what answered me. "Ihhh..."

Zombies? Now that was a quick sleep. Maybe these potions worked even better than advertised. Or he was hallucinating. That sounded more likely.

"GO AWAY! I'M TELLING YOU!"

Finn drew his stone sword hastily out of his bag, and swiped at the undead. It was knocked back, out of the shelter. It had broken the door down. Finn got up, reluctant to leave his bed, but not wanting to be zombie chow all the same.

It was light outside. But then, how were the zombies not burning? They all seemed to be wearing some sort of head covering, like a helmet. Was it responsible for handling the heat? Finn had heard of zombies rarely being decked out in armors, but never of entire armies, all with the same type of armor piece; all of them were wearing a helmet. Finn sighed. This was going to be another long day alright.

[Tyrone]

"Finn!? Where are you!?"

I was still calling out from atop the roof that is luckily tall enough to not let zombies onto it, but also short enough to Blink onto it. Zombies were desperately attempting to climb the house, only to get knocked down by a strike from my sword. It was slowly wearing down. Now, the question was whether the sword actually breaks if used too much or it just becomes weaker, or nothing happens at all. I batted away another zombie with an iron helmet and called out again.

"Finn! If you're in one piece, get over here!"

And for once, I was actually answered.

"Shut it. I can here you just fine. You don't need to call me." Finn was coming into the Village Square rather slowly, dragging his sword on the ground.

"How 'bout helping me out then?"

Finn raised his weapon with both of his hands.

"Nah mate. I'm only here to save myself. If I could, I'd just leave. Also, why should I help? It's not like you're my comrade or anything. Plus, why should I let up some easy to get sword experience?"

I looked at Finn blankly. "Are you trying to tell me why you aren't working with me, or why you haven't left yet?"

Finn blinked, and hesitated for a moment before answering, "Err, consider it more of a both."

'Go for something like a friendly competition or something! The friendlier you two get, the more likely Finn will think about sticking with us!'

'I'll actually take that. Seems like good advice, not considering this is probably the first time you spoke rationally; without involving Ice Cream and zombies. Speaking of which, how come you're not freaking out right now?'

 **'Wait, you're right. ERMAHGAHD ZAMBIS! WE GOT ZAMBIS!'**

'That's more like it.' I thought, and then followed up with putting down another zombie trying to climb up the house.

I called out to Finn, who had already thrown himself into the fray and was slowly working away at the undead lumbering at him.

"Hey Finn! Up for a 1v1 to see who can kill more zombies?"

Finn beheaded a zombie coming at him, and then looked at me; and smiled. "You're on. Time to find out how good you actually are."

I took this as the call I needed. I jumped off of the roof, holding the sword in a reverse grip, and buried the gray blade in one zombie's skull, cutting through the leather protecting its noggin. It exploded into another piece of rotten flesh, and a helmet of leather with the cut I made into it. I kept it. It'd work as the counter of how many zombies bit the dust at my hands. I yelled in Finn's general direction again.

"Finn! The helmets are how we'll check how many we killed!"

An okay was yelled back.

 _'Aren't you yelling a lot today?'_

'Get me one of those combat radio things that soldiers use. Then I'll think about it.'

Another zombie headed my way, and tried to take a swipe at me. I blocked the strike with a slice of my sword, cleaving its forearm off. It stopped for a moment, stepping back and clutching its arm. It then stepped away, turned around and started leaving, moaning in pain and making a sound which… seemed to be it pleading for mercy.

'Now, this was uncalled for.'

 _'Just take him out. We have to win the competition. Plus, it's not like killing a surrendering zombie is against the Geneva Convention.'_

'And what is that?'

 _'The rules to being nice during wartime.'_

'I'd say Heart would probably be against this, with his mercy for everything and all-'

 **'Kill it. Kill it dead, and then some. I want no zombies left in this village, or even in this whole world.'**

'Well, I guess to hell with both your opinions then.'

I lowered my weapon, and then faced another zombie who was much less caring of his (or her? I was never good at distinguishing in genders for dead people, especially once they're half-decomposed.) wounded brethren. I struck right at the neck, wanting to make this quick and painless, now that I'd seen the human soul in a zombie.

And utterly regretted it.

As I cut through, my sword cutting through the flesh and bone like, err, a sword through flesh and bone, my Stone Blade broke halfway through the neck. Everything went slow motion as the sword snapped in two, and the pieces fell to the ground before they became dust and blew away in the wind. (which I couldn't feel existing at all.) Once that ordeal and its emotional trauma were over, I looked at the mess of a zombie that remained.

I feel real bad for it. Honestly. It had half of its neck cut off, and the other half connected to it, resulting in an unstable head which was no different than a loose tooth. That must've hurt. I recoiled in disgust.

"Gross!" I drew my other sword out of my bag, and struck at the neck from the other side, which was still intact. I fortunately got it right and cut the head off, putting the poor soul of its misery. It dropped its helmet, and two pieces of flesh as a reward.

"There goes down three. I think."

 _'Tyrone, we have a problem. The excessive fighting, Blinking around, and crazy maneuvers of yours have us down real bad on food. Apparently all our work in the dream actually affected us in reality, even though it wasn't real. It's chomping time.'_

'Aren't I thankful that I chose the helmets as the counter? And, you think we have any alternative to fight more effectively? Cause we got no stone to make another sword.'

 _'We do what all badasses do. Make another sword, right in the middle of battle, and dual wield the hell out of those swords.'_

'Too much badassery for one fight I'd say, but I'll go for it.'

I threw down my backpack, and Crafted a Crafting Table, and with a stick and two Wooden Planks, I had myself another sword. I didn't even bother to pick up the Crafting Table as I charged back into the fray with two swords of wood in hand.

"YAHHH!"

'Better?'

 _'Nah, too mainstream.'_

'Why do I even bother?'

 _'Point to ponder.'_

I double stab another zombie in the chest, taking it out instantly, following up with a double chop in my back direction-

Into thin air.

'So much for trying to act cool and in the flow.'

That lapse of my focus resulted in a zombie slashing at my back, knocking me to the ground, face first.

"I never liked the taste of dirt." I spoke, my words muffled by the dirt in my face.

"IHH!" An overexcited zombie who had the guts to actually kick me down on my face groaned.

And I knew what was probably expected from me.

Using the powers which I kind of under-use, (But then, how often does one need to teleport a few meters around him?) I Blink behind the zombie, who stopped confused. It made the mistake I did, and got two swords in its neck as a reward. "Surprise!"

"Well, how many helmets do you have Finn?"

"You first." Finn looked me right in the eye, confident and all full of himself.

"I got six."

"Well..." Finn's grin was starting to split his face. "I got seven! In your face, newb!"

I made a poker face in reaction. "Okay. Congratulations. Now, you wanna get out of here or something? It doesn't seem... friendly to be staying here with all the zombie limbs everywhere." I watched the brutalities that happened here. Apparently any dismembered appendages didn't explode into dust. "Heart doesn't really like it."

Finn looked at me. "You mean 'my heart', right?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't. My heart has a mind of its own, doesn't yours?"

Finn's eye twitched. "No. Let's just get out of here; to Lustace or wherever you were heading."

He then walked away, muttering something about me being mentally challenged or hallucinating.

I shrugged and just followed him.

[Red]

Another day, another trashed base, and another person who I want dead now. Not that this is the first time. Well, I guess in the sheer amount of time I spent in there, Tyrone probably already made his way to Lustace. I would. Guess it would be rather nice of me to say hello to the authorities there.

And force any information I can out of them. Willingly or otherwise.

But first things first; get a mount. I looked on my map. There was a stable nearby. Surely I could strike a bargain...

"Hello kind sir," I began as I always did. The best cons work with a little bit of sweetness overlooking the whole thing. "How are your horses faring today?''

"Fine, as always. Raised 'em myself."He pounded his chest twice in pride.

"I see. How much would it take for someone to, procure one of these fine steeds?"

"10 Emeralds. Nothing less. And if you wouldn't mind, would you like to tell me why you wear that mask?"

I just remembered that I still had the disguise on. No wonder he hasn't run away yet.

"Well," I said, trying to throw a story together. "It begins a long time ago. I was the oldest of my brothers and sisters in my family-"

"Wait."The man intervened. "You mean spawned with multiple other Crafters at once, but you were the first by a few seconds, right?"

I went on with the flow, and nodded. "Yes, that was what I meant. It's just that a certain weird sense grasps me sometimes, reminds me of a life I did not live."

 _'And friends who weren't even half as good as we are.'_

 **'I'm with Brain for once.'**

 _'Wait, you agree with me?! Break the crates! Bring out the food and lights! We gonna party tonight!''_

'As long as you don't invite me there, I'm cool. I never liked parties. And it's the morning.'

The man, named 'Skulvar', was now intrigued by my story, somewhat. An achievement I'd say; I had always been bad at stories.

''So, what happened next?"

"Well-" I tried a sad sigh. "The story is a painful one; I prefer not to tell it in much detail. It begins with the spawn, and many of my siblings were bewildered by what happened with them." I put a straight face. "Not that they were many. We were five, 3 young men and 2 women. Unaware of anything of what to do, we wandered together, living off the land. We met many fine people like you."

"What next?" The man asked, smiling faintly. Why, I don't know.

"Well, we learned from them; working together with other Crafters who were as kind-hearted as you are. Hard to find, they are. They taught us out of the kindness of their heart, called themselves the Way Of The Light. Notch followers, but good people. They taught us what they knew."

"Very similar to what I've been through. Good chaps, those Light people are."

"We all thought of going to one of the major settlements, planning to settle down and live a happy life together as a happy gathering, or family; whatever you'd want to call it. So on the way-" I made a half successful attempt to get teary-eyed. "We were fooled. Some people came up to us, claiming to be ones who'd help us on our journey. I smelled a rat, but Sep decided to go with the idea."

"Who's Sep?" The man asked. ''Was that his name? Or like an alias?"

"It's short for Septois." The tears started to flow faster. I sobbed. "R-rather, w-was. It didn't end out well for us. We were well, abducted. Had us hostage for some odd sacrifice ritual of theirs."

"I'm sorry, but what? A sacrifice ritual? Like a cultish practice?"

I gave a short nod. What was wrong with me? Why was I crying so much?

"I-I t-tried to f-fight th-this out in trial by c-combat, b-but-"

Skulvar's hand came on my shoulder, gently patting it. I looked at him. His face was solemn, but with the faintest of reassuring smiles; the type you give when you want to say it'll be alright.

"Go on." He said.

"I-I failed them. I lost, but survived. They killed my friends, in front of my eyes; and then left me to the world, as a sign that they are ones to be feared. The Withering, those imbeciles called themselves."

I raised my head, eyes in line with Skulvar's. "From that day, I swore revenge. I was going to get back at them for who they are and what they did. I needed help, and for that I needed transportation. Which brings us to where we are now, I need your help. I was never a wealthy man, even less so since we were raided. I cannot afford on of your fine steeds, but I will return you the favor once I am able to. So please, I request for a mount from you."

Skulvar said nothing, he just went into his stables. I waited for him, prepared for everything. Almost. I hadn't prepared myself for these feels though. Skulvar came out, with a horse's reins in hand.

"May the wind always carry under your feet." Skulvar gave his blessing as he handed the reins to me. I mounted the horse, I gave Skulvar a two finger salute.

"May fortune smile on you."

And I began to trot my way to Lustace when Skulvar called out behind me.

"Don't forget to pay back!"

"I certainly will!" I called back before riding to my destination, with the current events on mind. Why had I cried then? And why was I so emotional? Heart's intruding my thoughts answered me.

 **'Because true stories hurt, especially when they involve you. Just you weren't being fully true.'**

I ignored the words spoken by Heart, moving onto my destination. I couldn't let his words get to me. Didn't want any ninjas cutting more onions nearby.

I stood in line at Lustace's entry checkpoint. I knew the man there well, having been in and out of the Kingdom several times, similar yet differing reasons each time. What surprises me is how he does not know that I'm an assassin, saboteur, conman, and so much more. Maybe I'm just that good that no one knows what's happening, or just that the Federation is too lazy to keep my name in the wanted papers for long. And that's why he doesn't know who I really am. Not a traveler; a monster. It took around 100 ticks to get to the front of the line.

"Papers, please." The man said.

"Hello, Robertson." I answered.

"I'm sorry Sir, but could you show me your papers? I cannot let you through without seeing them. Orders. Plus, you're making everyone else wait. So please let me see your papers."

"No need friend. I'm not in the mood to go in today." I patted him on his shoulder. "And tighten up that knot of your tie. You look better with a dapper looking sweater to go with that suit of yours."

"Thank for your compliment and all Sir, but could you please hasten giving your papers? And please take that mask off, it's slightly… disturbing."

"Oh, yeah. Right." I removed the mask I had kept on for so long, showing my face and name to the entry officer.

"All I want you to do, Robertson," I preferred to use his full name, his being all this formal and customer-friendly to his customers (if you can call them that) and his bosses. "A friend of mine will be coming by. His name is Tyrone. TurbulentTyrone. I need you to let me know when he gets in."

Robertson tightened up the trinity knot of his tie and said, "I'm sorry Red, but I'm not allowed to disclose any information about-"

I put a finger close to his face. "Shhh."

"Other people. Orders."

"Don't worry. No one will ever know about you telling. I'll be nearby for the next couple of days. Just when you let him in, let a firework off. I'll send you that soon."

"And if I can't let him through?" Robertson questioned.

"You will. After all, you wanted to get that Fishing Rod for little Robert didn't you? I'll pay you well. As a bonus, you can be all the snarky you want to be with him. He doesn't know who you really are. Plus, it'll help you offload some steam. See? It's a win-win. Thanks."

"You're welcome Sir."

I broke out of the line and headed to one of the hideouts I had made for myself when I was, you know, not in a kingdom with all of those luxury suites that I bought myself. Bounty hunting is profitable, if you do it right. Stress on right. I climbed onto the nearby rock face, and stepped on a pressure plate in a discreet corner. I dropped at least a chunk before landing on a cross of Slime Blocks and with a somersault in the air to show off to myself, I crashed onto the bed. I needed sleep; especially after escaping captivity and some serious feels of what I was. I'll deal with other stuff later.

Inventory (Red): Same as before, and some Feels. (Feels do not take up inventory space.)

Inventory (Tyrone) : Wooden Sword (Barely Used), Wooden Sword (Heavily Used), Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), Wooden Pickaxe (Fairly Used), Wooden Hoe, Wooden Shovel (Barely Used), 1 Steak, 1 Compass, 1 Book (Federation Map Of Lustace District), 1 Map (Bur's Mine), Book (Welcome To Mincraftia) 2 Coal, 1 Boat, 1 Leather, 1 Spider Eye, 2 String, 2 Oak Doors, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 1 Chest, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Torch, 2 Wooden Planks, 7 Rotten Flesh, 3 Iron Ingot, 2 Mycelium, Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used).

 **A/N: Another Chapter! According to the biweekly schedule. Good thing I got it done, now I can prepare in peace. Plus, I finally got an OC in! It's Robertson from Laner. I'm pretty sure I did the character not enough of what it should've been, but well I certainly didn't have much to go with except what he looked like and his behavior. But worry not! He certainly still has a few more entries in the next few chapters at least. And now I'm starting to just drag this out, so thank you everyone, for reading this chapter. If you liked it, follow the story, favorite it, review, try to find the reference, and I'll see you guys, in 2 weeks, in condition of freedom (relative freedom rather. I still have tests after that.)**


	12. Chapter 12: Conflicts Inside

Chapter 12: Conflicts Inside

 **A/N: Karbon here. I've been busy alright. Tests and all. But now, I'm back. With more chapters. As always. I'm writing in really short sentences. And I have no idea why.**  
 **Well, back to the grind. Laner got the reference. Once again, I'm pleasantly surprised at the huge amount of stuff you seem to know, at least when it comes to my stuff. And as (not so) usual, we have a special guest. Dude, get over here!**

 **Sans: Hey, I know you like all these 'Special Guests' and all, but this isn't how it works. Timelines gonna be jumping left and right. Running into each other. Especially when you bring two worlds together. I'll give the cake now, but don't call me, or anyone from somewhere else. It'll cause chaos, and you're going to have a bad time. Laner. Tell him that.**

 **Karbon: Ok I get it. No more guests from outside Minecraftia. *Slowly backs away***

 **Now for part 2. Replying to the reviews and all. And I need to find a Karbon Seal Of Approval for Laner. I owe him one.**

 **Re: Laner: Good to know that, well, I went through with the expectations. Especially with the lack of actual explanation of his skills or Ideals. So pretty much the best idea I had was for a guard or something. Though he'll go for a bit more than a guard, making a few entries here and there. Cause hey, he's a border pass check guy. And very, very obedient to authority. And actually, I had no plan for having Red having the feels so soon or so intense. Until halfway through the chapter. Now, without further ado, time to get to business.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Mojang or Minecraft. If I did, I wouldn't have CIEs stopping me from writing a Minecraft Fanfiction and I'd probably be working in Microsoft.**

 **Beta Reading: Me because, well, tests aren't nice things which let you write when you want. So I couldn't get it to Dragstream in time.**

* * *

[Red]

I woke.

"Nothing like a good night's sleep after not having one in last three days." Crafters may not have a primary need to sleep and all, but it was helpful and felt good all the less. Especially during combat. I have taken on pretty much all shades of Crafters, some skilled, some less, some almost drunk, some who were so perceptive, they could see sounds. Like they had Red Bull in their coffee or something.

 **'And there he goes outside of Minecraftia.'**

'Now's not the time, Heart! I have to get over my daily internal monologue before starting the day! And how come it was you who's all sarcastic? That's Brain's job.'

 **'He's off the grid for now. Too busy with his parties. Which he does alone. Poor Brain. Always Forever Alone.'**

'Now all we need is a sad air horn tune. And me getting back to my monologue. According to scientists, monologues and self talking make you smarter.'

 **'You really need to stop reading those question-bait magazines.'**

Now where was I? Yeah. I met and fought against people of all sorts. But two targets I've met were different. One is well, this Tyrone kid I'm after, getting away while I had him at gunpoint. How did he do that, I have no idea whatsoever. It takes courage to not break down and cry for mercy with a piece of Death-Metal less than a block away from your face, but even more so that you just... troll your almost killer and run like the wind. Now that, doesn't take guts. That takes stupidity, or having no idea what you're doing half the time without thinking. Or some crazy inside organs yelling in your ear to do so.

 **'That escalated quickly. And will you actually bother to get out of bed and start doing stuff rather than go over your past? Get up! We have people to see and places to be!'**

'Nah... I wanna go to sleep.'

I rested up against the pillow again.

Only to be tossed onto the floor by nothing except my own chest. Courtesy ofyours truly, though I fail to see how he did it.

 **'I said. Get. Up.'**

'Fiiine.'

I scramble up, and open one of the ender chests in my base. Taking out a firework, I started to close the lid, before stopping halfway.

"Wait, eh, nevermind. I can always mod Reason later. Job first always." I close the lid.

I walk over to the Slimeblock near the 'entrance'.

"And launch commences in three... two... one."

I press the button that controlled the launcher. A piston above me contracts.

"Liftoff!"

The Slimeblock below me moves up, and launches me into the air. I felt the air on my face for a moment, and then I had the Sun's light in my eyes. I close them, and then I softly land on the stone ground. Time to get to business.

I walked down the nature made stairs of stone down to border checkpoint.

"Wait, I forgot. I need my pass. I've some down in the Kingdom." I facepalmed.

' **You lazy ass. Never think your plans through, don'cha?'**

'Of all the voices in Minecraftia, I least expected these words from you, Heart. You disappoint me.'

' **Well, someone's gotta do Brain's job while he's out cold.'**

'I thought he was partying?'

' **Nah. He's pretty much hammered by now.'**

'Must be pretty bad.'

' **You don't say. Now get that pass of yours.'**

'You don't have to insist.'

I went back down into my outpost alright, and got my passport. And some emeralds. You always need emeralds for everything in Federation controlled Kingdoms. And with a passport in hand, and a half stack of emeralds in my bag, I was ready. Probably. I don't remember if I forgot any anything again. I hope I didn't. Or maybe I did. The equipment check. Better for me if I hide anything that says, 'Hey! I'm RedRinger! That killer guy who took out Consul Kimberly! And I came back so you can kill me!' Would be no different than a neon sign on my head saying the same if I don't. I sighed.

"Back to base then. This is probably being an adult feels like. Probably. I have no idea."

Another launch, cleared inventory, and a somersault later, I put my mask back on. That's rule number one of being a wanted assassin. Hide your face. The guards probably know who I am, or not, but why take chances? Anyway, they all know my name. Nether, everyone in the Kingdom knows my name. And what I've done. You don't just disappear after killing a Kingdom Director.

 _'Now, just get over with this. My head hurts.'_

'I have no idea whatsoever how that works, but I'll flow with it.'

I went down the stairs of stone and got in myself in line. It shouldn't be long, considering Rob's skill at his Papers, Please-ing. He was a natural at it.

* * *

[Tyrone]

"I'm bored."

"You were the one wanting to head over to Lustace in the first place. I was planning to go to the Save The Sheep Convention over by The Reach."

"Really?" I looked at Finn. "What's that all about? And where's this, The Reach, you talk of? Is it like some sort of Kingdom?" I was bored alright. Travelling an hour without talking will do that to you. I didn't mind even if I was going to have go through a whole 25 hours of a history lecture on a Kingdom. I was just that bored. Though probably I was going to not be so sure after an hour of Kingdom History. I hate history.

Finn opened his mouth to say something, but no voice came out.

"So, what is it?" I probed.

"It's err, it's..." Finn bit the side of his lip.

"It's what?"

 _'Dude, that's being pushy taken to over 9000. I guess. I've always been bad at social dealing classes. *cries*'_

'And... since when did I have classes going on inside me?'

 **'He actually has no idea. Let him calm down. This whole almost dying really stressed him. He just needs to remove that dream-memory, I guess. You could say, he needs to** _ **let it go.**_ **I have no idea whatsoever why did I even bother with stressing that. I'd probably know if I could break some walls. But I got no thermite charges on me.'**

'I'd rather you don't.'

"So, are you going to tell me what The Reach is?"

"We're going too slow. We need to hurry up if we are going to head to Lustace before nightfall."

He sped up, almost running, yet not quite. I sprinted over to catch up.

"Dude! Since when were you all for getting to Lustace? If you don't want to talk about The Reach, don't. But at least walk! I can't catch up with all that I'm having with me."

Finn looked back while slowing down.

"Well, why don't you just drop whatever dead weight you have with you?"

"Dead weight? You mean there's living weight too in your inventory? Does living weight include meat and all?"

Finn looked at me blankly, not for the first time in today. And I swear, I heard a disk scratch. Whatever that is.

"I have just one question from you, Ty."

"Try me."

Finn's expression wavered not the slightest.

"Are you mentally-freaking-challenged?!"

I blinked at the statement. With my eyes. Not with my logic-defying powers which got Finn _stuck_ with me in the first place.

"I don't know. Should I know if I am?"

Finn nodded. "Yes. Because that means I can just get away from you and your stupid shit and leave you to die. Minecraftia needs less idiots like you."

Without saying another word, Finn turned back onto the path and continued towards Lustace, or wherever he was headed now. I'm crappier than crap when it comes to navigation after all.

 **'Don't feel bad, you've barely travelled a bit of Minecraftia. Not even a seasoned navigator knows his way around what he hasn't seen.'**

'Gee, thanks Heart.'

 _'Though you should feel bad. You have a map of the whole district, and you still have no idea where anyone is headed here.'_

'Gee, less of a thanks Brain.'

 _'Your welcome. *Bows lightly*'_

'Well, speaking of a map, let's see where on Minecraftia we even are.'

I took out the book-map of Lustace District, (which according to the book I shouldn't have, cause it's some Fed property. Federation. Is that like some government thingy? Cause Mr. Weird Sense tells me so.)

Sense: Yep. According to my dictionary a Federation is a formation of a political unity with a central government by a number of-

 _'People didn't come here to listen to your whole dictionary. They came here for my epicness. And we don't want a political debate in the reviews.'_

 **'Brain, did you just-'**

 _'Yep, I broke the fourth wall, and the fifth, and the sixth wall. Though I wonder where the first three went.'_

 **'And how'd you do that? We got no thermite or C4, or whatever. We got no wall breaker stuff in here.'**

 _'We do. We got mah fire mixtape!'_

 **'Okay. Lemme put up their Death Messages.'**

Immediately several voices popped up in my head.

Message: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth wall died of hypothermia.

'What's hypothermia now?'

Sense: Hypothermia. The condition of having an abnormally (typically dangerously) low body temperature.

'Call me an unaware idiot, but I have no idea what's happening. Except that Brain got owned real bad. I guess. I actually have no idea what the hell is going on right now.'

 _'No wonder Finn just left you.'_

I sighed. 'Well, he was good company while he lasted. Now, what's the plan?'

' _Depends. Do you want to just power on to Lustace, or take it like a human and move on to the next settlement on our way? I prefer option I'm very lazy when it comes to traveling. Too much work for me.'_

'Everything's too much for you,isn't it?'

' _What can I do? Geniuses have limited energy reserves.'_

'And I thought Kanye was full of himself. Looks like a challenger has appeared.'

' _Don't you dare compare me with him. I'm better than him in more ways than one.'_

'Especially narcissism.'

' _Of course not. It is only fitting that a genius believes in himself, or his skills have gone to nothing.'_

'Well, rather than going on about how to argument is bullshit, I'll find it more productive to plan my next course of action.'

I looked at the Federal map of Lustace District, and tried to make out where I was.

"So it seems I'm right... there. Yeah. With flat open ground. And a tree up ahead, like here, and one there, like that. Like on the map. Y-yeah, I know where I am. Right? I'll be fine, right? I'm still in one piece, right? I'm not going to die. I'll be fine." I shook my head. "I'll be fine. I'm not going insane. The rotten flesh isn't getting to my head. My brain isn't breaking down."

 _'I can confirm that.'_

"I'll be fine. I know where to go, right?" I threw down the book and gripped my head.

"I'm screwed, aren't I? A total newb. Not the slightest idea of what's going on. Finn was right. Minecraftia needed less people like me. I should've died a long time ago. Maybe things would've turned out better." I broke down and cried.

* * *

[Red]

"Papers, please."

Robertson had said that every time I came to him, and he's said it to everyone who's been before me in this line. Seems he loves using the phrase.

Just one more person ahead of me in line, and then I had my turn. Of course, I could've barged my way through, but better if you just walk through it slowly than speed it up at the expense of a firefight. Or sword fight rather. Sure, I may be badass, I may be really powerful, but I ain't no immortal. I'll still die if someone hits me enough times with their swords. Plus, living long enough eventually will blow your cover, and then you have to watch your back for the next month, and sometimes longer for hitmen out for the bounty of the bounty hunter. And it sucks not being able to sleep in peace for that long. Caffeine potions last only so long.

"NEXT!"

The whole line moves a block forward, like robots in an assembly line. Again, I have no bloody idea what makes me think like that. Some crafters I've met called this 'weird sense', though I have no idea what to call it. Déjà vu? Hmm. Sounds proper. Use a term of this feeling to describe the feeling itself. Ironic, but proper.

"NO ONE gets into Glory Greatest Kingdom In Minecraftia without proper papers. Get out!" Robertson gestured the dejected entrant out of the line, face dripping anger. Yet in a moment, his face reverted to its calm, customer/applicant friendly form.

"Next!"

I walk up to the counter.

"Papers-" Robertson looked at me. "Oh. It's you."

"Of course it is. Here." I gave him the firework I took out earlier.

"So, are you going to leave? I have limited hours here, and the wages aren't exactly the best, so going through the maximum applicants is how I cover it up."

"Not yet." I gave him my passport.

"Hmm. Seems fine." He examined my passport. "But where's the Entry Ticket? I can't let you through without a certified Entry Ticket which declares you safe."

I put my hands up, miming surrender. "Dude, I'm fine. I'm in the clear. Plus, when did they add this Entry Ticket thing? Wasn't here last time I came here."

Robertson's expression darkened. "Because last time you came here, Consul Kimberly was alive. And your target. You brought this problem onto yourself. Karma. You caused chaos here, and as a result, to save the people here from further acts of terrorism and anarchy, only the safest are allowed in, by the Directory of Foreign Affairs. Why do I even bother? If you don't have a ticket, get outta here. Chop-chop." Robertson clapped his hands.

'Shite. This wasn't part of the plan.'

 **'Things never seem to with you around, eh?'**

'Guess time to see how much of a smooth talker I've become.'

"You really don't seem to trust me do you? How bout you have an inventory check of me. Set me up at the scanner, or hopper of whatever. In the room. And gimme my passport. You can kick me out if they catch me with anything wrong, I won't resist. Promise."

"I hope you don't. Not easy cleaning up after a bloodbath."

I walked into the curtained room.

"Hello." I greeted the uniformed man.

"Please. What is the purpose of you being here? What are you suspected of possessing?"

"Came here on free will. Just wanted to get an inventory checkup."

"Free will? That doesn't happen. Something's- Oof!"

That's the sound a guard makes whenever you punch him in the chin mid-sentence. You just have to be careful with your timing. If his tongue gets in the way, well, it's a mess. I grab his neck and turn him around to get him in a choke hold, like I've done every so often. The guard's muffled voice tries to call for help as he struggles, before his body slackens. I gently place it down, before hiding it behind the chest which moves to the hopper, which, I could go on for hours on how this whole inventory checking goes. But ain't nobody got time for that. I check the guard's body for a key.

"There. Finally one that fits the hole." I take the key out, and test it in the lock. It opens up alright. A push, and I enter the Kingdom of Lustace.

After two years. Just this time I had some smithing business that I never actually had before. I preferred to work on my own tools and weapons, modding them in a way that suited me best. Just the whole issue of this was that I only knew my own custom weapons. As for this new whole crossbow, I was probably no better than a blind eighty year old. No offense to all the blind eighty year olds out there. I'm just saying that I'm real bad at crossbow working or modding. And that's why I'm going to find a professional to do that for me. One of the things on the agenda.

I had gone down streets of all sorts in all Kingdoms, but I've never been actually focusing on them. Because the only time I was there was either to meet a contact or to take out a target with everyone knowing the Crafter in question was dead, or to just send a message. If one Crafter comes to mind for this type of assassination, it's, you guessed it. The Consul. Some foreign contractors called me for it. Some cult. I keep trying to push the whole fiasco from my mind. But one sentence stays engraved. One that confirmed there's no turning back now.

'The only way forward, is Endward.'

That was when I learned. She was the spark to me becoming the soulless murderer Minecraftia has come to fear and loathe. And she led to one more contract. Put up by me. For me. For my existence. And it's up for me as of this day. For the Crafter still walks the land, thirsty for my blood, willing to gut me like a fish for what I did to Kimberly. From what I heard, she quit her job in being the Director of Defense of Lustace to going full out to kill me. She... was different. Like Tyrone. Just both of them. Just. Won't. Die.

"Die!" I thought the last word aloud, and the whole street of hustle just went silent, all looking at me.

"Pardon me. I was just practicing my lines for a play." I said with a slight bow, after which the whole situation calmed down and the merchants resumed their trade.

Awkward crisis avoided. Now where was that Crossbow Smith?

* * *

[Tyrone]

 _'You need to stop crying Ty. This is getting awkward. Here just a few days ago you were taking on an ton of undead, escaped a killer dude with a gun which would've probably killed you, got entrusted with a mission which probably is to save the world, survived an attack from a psychopathic killer woman who I have no idea where she is now, dodged the killer dude again who thinks you still have the scroll, and well, got superpowers. Even Jeb believes in you. A shame you don't trust yourself when so many others do.'_

 **'C'mon Brain, that's not how you get someone going through pain like that back on their feet! You do it something like this. *Clears non-existent throat* You cannot give up just yet! Tyrone, stay determined... That's how it works. Right? Right? Anyone? Guess I'll go and have some ice cream then.'**

 _'I'm pretty sure that's not how that works either. What Ty needs right now is the stern sergeant treatment to get him up and about.'_

'Both of you, just shut up! Neither of you have any idea what to do.'

 _'Actually I do. You get up. Now. For Existence.'_

'For Existence?'

 _'For Existence.'_

'For Existence!'

 _'FOR EXISTENCE!'._

 **'(With mouth full of ice cream) FRRR EXESTENCE!'**

"FOR EXISTENCE! YOU AIN'T GETTIN' THE BESTA ME MINECRAFTIA!''

 _'I probably pumped in too much motivation I guess.'_

"NO ONE'S GETTING ME NOW!"

 _'Well, how bout to test that out, let's have a look at the nearby apparently run down settlement which you couldn't see before because you were in a temporary state of self pity.''_

'No problem. Zombies, skeletons, slapsticks, nuclear potatoes, I'm ready for it.'

 _'I'm not.'_

'I don't care. I am. And I'm up for it.'

Stuffing a piece of rotten flesh down into my stomach, I ran over to the possible wreckage, sickly green particles orbiting me.

'So this is the place.' I look over the area, and it's broken down alright. Dilapidated buildings everywhere, grass growing through rocks (so that's how paper beats rock then...) Paths are of cracked stone, and so on.

 _'Now how bout going for a bit of salvaging around. Might find something useful in there. Probably put on one of those hats you have too. Sure, they may be gross, but they seemed to last well into death of those guys. They must be useful, and will probably make a headbutt a lot less uncomfortable for us.'_

I nodded. 'Good point.'

I scanned my inventory for the six helmets I got a few hours before, and took the least worn looking one out for use on my head. As I did that, another bar popped up under my health on my field of vision. It was only barely full, with a half torso filled.

 _'Meh, it's probably nothing major.'_

I walked into one of the broken down buildings, and started looking for any sort of salvage. It felt like I was someone in an apocalypse of some sort. Though that wasn't far from reality. Zombies at night, sentient and self aware skeletons. Giant spiders which should be killed with fire,and other stuff like that. And that refined stuff was hard to come by.

I opened a random chest, which like all others opened with a very audible creak. I looked down into it.

"Empty."

I checked another one.

"Empty again."

"Empty, empty, and another empty. How many empty chests are here?"

 _'A lot.'_

I came out of the building, from its 'back door' and found a group of people camping out several meters ahead of me.

'People. You think they're friendly?'

 _'Probably not. Cause pretty much everyone you've met has tried to kill you at some point.'_

 **'There's always a first time for someone not doing so.'**

'Heart's right. There's a chance that well, they're just harmless survivors who want to just live.'

"Hey! You guys! Over here!"

They seemed to be talking to each other, after which they turned over toward me, swords raised. The swords were of some metallic material, shiny white. And whatever they were wearing seemed savage-ish. Like some sort of medieval bandits.

 _'Told you they weren't much for conversation.'_

'So fight or flight?'

 _'Fight. These guys seem to have good stuff, which if we can get our hands on will probably make getting to Lustace infinitely easier. After all, you seem to be one who can take on the world right now, right?'_

'Fight it is then.'

* * *

Inventory (Red): Knifeshot, 1 Iron Throwing Knife (Loaded in Knifeshot) , Splash Potion Of Regeneration, Potion Of Invisibility, Iron Short-Sword, Bronze Crossbow, 11 Bronze Bolts, Steel Crossbow, 26 Alumite Bolts, Bounty Hunter Vest, Bounty Hunter Leggings, Bounty Hunter Boots, Shadow Triad Mask.

Inventory (Tyrone) : Wooden Sword (Barely Used), Wooden Sword (Heavily Used), Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), Wooden Pickaxe (Fairly Used), Wooden Hoe, Wooden Shovel (Barely Used), 1 Steak, 1 Compass, 1 Book (Federation Map Of Lustace District), 1 Map (Bur's Mine), Book (Welcome To Mincraftia) 2 Coal, 1 Boat, 1 Leather, 1 Spider Eye, 2 String, 2 Oak Doors, 1 Pressure Plate, 1 Button, 4 Bowls, 3 Signs, 1 Chest, 6 Wooden Slabs, 1 Torch, 2 Wooden Planks, 6 Rotten Flesh, 3 Iron Ingot, 2 Mycelium, Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used), Leather Helmet (Heavily Used).

* * *

 **A/N: Alright. Another chapter, which I was going to make longer, but tests got in the way, and this is going up way after deadline. On one end, this has well, a lot of dialogue, a bit of character development, some more of Red's backstory, Tyrone getting into trouble again, and more OC stuff. Speaking of which, the OC submission is still open, and you can send all the one you want, with the criteria somewhere in Chapter 3. And there's a crap ton of references in this chapter, ripe for the taking. Many of which well, are really obvious (At least for me) and some are more subtle. And now that the tests are over, I can get to writing a lot more, and I may as well be getting back on track with my consistency, for once. If anyone has any tips on how I can do that, I'll be really thankful. And I'll see you guys (Hopefully) in the next two weeks!**


	13. Chapter 13: Conflicts Outside

Chapter 13: Conflicts Outside

 **A/N: Alright. Karbon here. Back with another Chapter. On time for once. Finally I'm getting my act together. Pre-writing chapters before things start interfering helps a lot. Like it did here. I'll have more examinations in a month or so, so keeping these chapters handy should help me keep you guys entertained while I deal with life. Win-Win I say.**

 **As for the reference win, it's Laner again, for getting the over 9000 meme. Though I expected some more answers. On the plus side, it seems that Frozen is finally out of the public's minds. No one got the whole 'let it go' thing I made heart stress on. For the record, I never watched it. I'm just rambling now. Onto part 2.**

 **Laner: Well, after all, Ty is going to get into fights. He hasn't been in a kingdom yet, and well he's in the more dangerous part of Minecraftia. Plus, this is why the story is called Factions. It's all sorts of Factions vying to conquer Minecraftia. And if you're not in one, tough luck. No one wants you for who you are. Yes this is getting dark and gritty. As for Red, well, he's more of a bounty hunter with a conscience which gives him the feels. He's done bad things I tell you. Ones which make him feel bad. I may go on and write a story on him on how from a sensitive greenhorn crafter he became a semi-soulless murderer. But I'm starting to ramble now. Onto the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or Mojang. If I did, arrows sticking out of your body would actually matter.**

 **Beta: Dragstream.**

'Fight it is then.'

 **'Why not try to reason with them or say hi? They may only be hostile because we are to them.'**

 _'Heart, this isn't the Underground. This is kill, or be killed. No one cares about talking unless you're a friend; and those are hard to come by now.'_

'I'll probably try to go with Heart's idea.'

"Hey! Who are you guys? I'm not here to hurt you! I'm just lost and I need supplies." I put my hands up to prove my harmlessness.

"Eh?" One of them stopped; and the rest of them as well. "What'ja wan'?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Food, for one. Maybe anything I could use to get over to Lustace; like some emeralds and stuff. If you know of anything, I could probably help with something. Maybe like something to trade with? I've got stuff. Like this." I took out the 'Iron Ingots' I had.

"Here, you can have these. I don't know what to do with these anyways. Just let me know if any stuff is still here that I can salvage on my way."

The person seemed to be mumbling something to his fellows; before coming up to me, and taking the iron from me.

"So, where's the stuff in exchange?"

"Good... Iron... More... Need... Kill... Kill... Kill... Loot..."

'I have a really bad feeling about this.'

 **'He's probably just shy that someone just gave him some iron. I think it's kinda cute.'**

'Uhh, I'm not so sure. The cuteness is very debatable.'

I meant that. I'm not sure about you, but someone with a scar going across their whole face with what seemed to be a broken nose and a face only a mother could love; and a beard which made him look like a savage. His intellect was seen from his limited speech skills; either that or he needs to read 'How not to sound like a Murderous Speech Challenged Killer for Dummies. Does that exist?'

 _'Nope, just checked.'_

'And how'd you do that? Actually, you know what? Screw it. I'll just fry my brain if you tell me.'

As for the man's name, it was 'Jorji'. That sounded familiarly unfamiliar.

He drew his sword; or better described cleaver made of stone, and made an indescribable voice; best described as well, I dunno.

 _'Arnold Schwarzenegger with a vocal breakdown?'_

'I have no idea what any of that means, but I'll swing with it.'

Jorji's other cronies made a similar sound in a multitude of terrible voices. What is wrong with these people? Not that I got time for that; ain't nobody got time for stuff like that when you have a crap ton of people who have serious speech and reasoning impairment out to probably kill you. I drew out my wooden swords and tried a swipe at Jorji.

Bad idea.

In an almost home-run style swing, the cleaver threw me well into a random and inconveniently placed wall. I had a look at the corner of my view.

 _'Ouch. 4 hearts off. Now is probably my best time for a certain person's imitation. WE HAVE TO GET OF HERE! GET TO COVER! Okay that sucked.'_

 **'Everything you do does.'**

'Roasted. Nothing else to say.'

 _'Well, what I say is that we get outta here because we're in some deep shit right now. Five and a half hearts isn't something to just laugh off; contrary to a certain proverb that relates laughter to healing ailments.'_

'Good point, but what about... nevermind!'

I narrowly rolled away from another strike from that monster of a cleaver, and the other three probably speech impaired murderers drew their weapons; two white swords, and a bow.

'Gotta get outta here. I can take on the world, but not speech impaired killers.'

 _'Am I the only one here who actually realizes they're only trying to kill us for our stuff cause they're bandits?'_

'You were. It makes senses now. Hold tight, things are about to go from zero to hundred, in a Blink.'

"Ay! Bandits! Now you see me," I lift my left hand, aiming for a far off building which was probably stretching my Blink limits; and I Blinked. Reality felt like closing in around me, after which I began to complete the second half of the phrase.

"Now you, ow! Ow! Ow!"

 _'Trust your measuring skills less next time; especially when your life is on the line.'_

'Do something!'

 _'Uhh, uhh... yeah. Pickaxe. Now!'_

I somehow managed to get a pickaxe into my hand, and broke whatever I had my head stuck in. I had no idea how that worked; it defied logic, like floating trees, things exploding into dust on death. Like-

 _'Now is not the time! 4 hearts! Eat flesh!'_

'That sounded disturbing, but I get you.'

I swallowed another piece of rotten flesh and had the hunger effect pop up on my field of view.

Just as I began eating another piece, I felt a sharp pain in my knee or rather; the back of it.

 _'An arrow. Well, there goes our adventuring now.'_

'So now, running is out of the question.'

 _'Unless you want to go through extreme pain, then yeah, it is a bad idea. And what's this?'_

Another effect had come up in my field of view or rather, two. One with what I assumed as my head shining, and another with an arrow in a leg.

 _'Glowing and Crippled. Sounds like a skin care commercial with a literally killer product. Duck!'_

I crouched immediately and rolled out of the way, and turned to see where the arrow had come from. It was the archer alright; ready with another arrow as she was taking aim.

I tried another Blink towards a building without a roof, and within a blink, I was behind the wall, safe. They couldn't find me here, especially if I don't scream out in pain caused by intense suffocation. And an arrow to the knee.

'Ow. What's next?'

 _'Food and meds, homie. We have to eat food to tick that half heart up again and pull that arrow out somehow, but food first. We have to chomp a lot.'_

And that's just what I did. I ate so much; I exhausted my supply down to just one piece and my health started ticking up. One heart, one and a half, two-

"AY! Geth dhown!"

How did he know we are up here?

"I said, geth dhown or we shooth!"

 _'This man has speech disorders and he's trying to prove it, it almost seems. Don't say anything, he's probably bluffing.'_

*Thunk*

An arrow embedded itself in the wall I had hid myself behind.

'Okay, he's not bluffing for sure.'

 _'Then he somehow knows where we are. Hey, why is it so hot in here?'_

'That sounds...irrelevant.' I turned around to see the wall, starting to feel a little warmer myself.

'Scratch that. It's hot because well, walls be burning.'

Apparently now the arrow set the wall on fire, and it probably tagged me to see for the world. I have to get a bow someday; they seem to be awesome, better than even swords. But I had no time for that, I had to run. I tried to, but then got reminded of the arrow in my knee in the form of excruciating pain.

"Gotta get this out, and stop the bleeding if that actually happens."

I sat down hastily, wincing. I checked the back of my knee. Luckily it didn't seem to go too deep in; the arrowhead only went partially in. I pulled the arrow out with a partially silenced "Ouch."

It did bleed alright. The wound was the size of my finger. I was checking my bag for something like a bandage, when I heard heavy footsteps which clearly were of more than one person.

"You people won't let me stay in peace will you?"

I Blinked my way to another building nearby, just this time on the roof.

'Seems to have been a rather urban place before this whole breakdown. Wonder what caused it.'

I frantically searched my bag again, and the only thing close to my requirement is a piece of leather; and string. I saw an idea forming my mind, but it was going to take time. I first had to get out of the place, and fortunately I won't be tracked this time. The Glowing effect had worn off, but Crippled had remained. Probably it would for a decent amount of time, according to Sense.

 _'And please don't bring up your dictionary this time on the Crippled effect and how it works.'_

I saw Jorji's head come out into view as he climbed up the stairs, to take me out and take my stuff most certainly, even if I ain't got a thing on me.

I smiled at him.

"Sayonara, biotch."

I Blinked to a building behind him and hobbled over to a chest.

"Please don't give me away..." I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth as I open the chest. It made a creek, but it seemed that I was far enough for Jorji or his cronies to not hear me. I looked inside. There seemed to be a few arrows, a loaf of bread, and a bucket, with one emerald. Someone probably kept something here, because no one would find emeralds in deserted tombs, right?

I wolfed down the bread, and Blinked my way out of the town area.

 _'We got out alive, but I'll still call that a Bandits 1, Tyrone 0.'_

'Yeah, like I could do a lot with a bit of iron. Plus I got some arrows and an emerald, so that's a win.'

 _'We still need to get out of here. Crawl if you need to, but don't stop until you can't see anything of the town; or what's left of it.'_

'Not bad for a directive.' I hobbled on, putting most of my weight on my good leg. The back of my wounded knee had painted my lower leg red, and I felt myself light headed. My pace slowed down. Too much work...

 _'GET MOVING! YOU STUPID...RETARDED CRAFTER!'_

'Did you just...?'

 _'Mm hmm. Now get that anger out by getting out of here. Yell at me later.'_

And I did just that. It took me a decent amount of few minutes, which had me miraculously remain undetected, I managed to get out of view of the settlement. I rested by a tree. The lightheadedness had reduced, but now I felt weird, maybe something to do with blood loss.

Blood loss. I can fix it now. Hopefully this works. I took out an arrow I had, a piece of leather and one of my swords. I cut the leather into a more elongated shape, and put it around my knee. I then tied the leather around the arrow, and twisted it, as much as I could. This should help stemming the bleeding. Now to keep it like that. I took out another arrow and stuck it in the knot (if you could call it that).

 _'Loosen it a bit, wouldn't want to end up with a prosthetic leg. Tourniquets do that.'_

So apparently this thing had a name. I followed Brain, who apparently had a better knowledge of medicine and my body more than me; and because I wanted to stay fully organic. No metal, or anything not me.

 _'Now that we have that out of the way, wanna get going?'_

'Sure. So now the place nearby, which is not Killer Town, is a rather large looking village. Assuming what happened to me is normal, which most likely is, with guys like Red and Jorji around, there probably is a doctor of some sort there.

'Probably.'

'So I get that we'll have to walk all the way. I don't want to, and I don't think I can. I don't feel so good.'

 _'Dammit blood loss. I just hope it isn't a hemorrhage. It probably isn't. We'd be dead probably, but I don't know. That's probably clear from the fact that I've used probably a lot in my short complaint.'_

'Riiight.'

I hobbled on, a couple blocks. I was losing focus. My vision began to blur and shake uncontrollably. I collapsed. I was not going to make it, it seemed. This was probably it.

"I guess that was a good run for us; cheating death a ton of times, getting into a plan to save the world, and eventually kicking the bucket on an escape from bandits. RIP, I guess."

 _'Turbulent, whatever your middle name is, Tyrone. You are not going to die. This is an order. I repeat, you are not authorized to die on my watch.'_

'Heh, I wonder what the Angel of Death would say about that but don't worry. I don't wanna die here, you can count on that. I'm just, resting. Resting and recuperating before moving on.'

I closed my eyes, peacefully.

[Red]

Alright, now where's that Crossbow Guy? Is there any actually here in Lustace? I dunno. I never used a crossbow until two days ago, because mostly I had my gear with me. Reason and Knifeshot served me well enough, and I never needed to use the more conventional weaponry preferred by the Federation Military and Security. Namely, crossbows and Broadswords; both of iron. A normal assassin would probably use standard weapons to not attract attention. But then, I don't give a damn about that. I've shown that time and again. Killing people in broad daylight, not trying to hide your movements, and as a result having lots of people know about you, like it happened 2 years ago...

 _'You need to stop it Red. This is nothing short of crap. If you're feeling so bad now, why'd you even kill her in the first place? You didn't know more than her name and position, and same for her. Now she's dead. Dust, kicked the bucket, passed away, moved on to a better place. So stop thinking. Get yourself together and find that Smith Guy.'_

'Good point.'

I went onto a random blacksmith, who had his pieces up for show in an item frame. They primarily consisted of broadswords and armor pieces of decent materials, primarily of iron, enchanted.

'For the rich guy who doesn't want to get his hands dirty in the mine.'

"Hey. Hello Sir."

The man looked up from his anvil.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Is there any crossbow worker nearby? Or any at all?"

"Ehh, maybe." The smith scratched his beard. "If he's anywhere, he's here; in the weapon street."

"Or the black market," I muttered under my breath. I wanted to avoid that place, for obvious reasons. I continued my conversation. "So, where will he be?"

"I dunno. Look around, and don't waste my time. I have work to do, emeralds to earn, and a family to feed."

I paused, then nodded slowly. "Riiiight."

I turned around. And now I'll be spending a lot of time looking around…

 _ **2 hours later;**_

"Are you a crossbow worker?"

"Yes."

I punched the air with both fists.

"Finally! Yes! Yes!"

The crossbow worker recoiled, before regaining his composure.

"Uhh, congratulations?"

"Will you work on my crossbow?"

He shrugged. "Why not? What are you paying?"

"What matters is if you can do what I ask you to. I need you to turn this into an auto loading double shot crossbow. I have materials if you need them."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. The auto-loading part. Double-shot, yes. The auto loading part will require copious amounts of redstone and technical expertise found nowhere except Venenzer. Sorry, but I can do something about making a single shot a dual shot. Finally something worth my crafting degree from there." He hushed his voice and brought his face closer to my mask. "Not that it's something special, just a normal graduate. But they don't know and it doesn't matter." He leaned back, and resumed his business-y attitude. "So, that will take about two days and cost 14 emeralds."

I tried to haggle. "Dude. That's a lot. It costs me less to mod my gun. 14? Make it a 10." It was a fraction of a tick before I realized what I just did.

 _'And there goes whatever cover we barely had for ourselves.'_

The man squinted, as I steadily tried to back out of this situation. "A gun? That could only mean one thing... GET OVER HERE!"

"Shit!"

He leapt out as he tried to grab a hold on my mask. I turned tail and ran; the Crafter right on me. Sure, I could've taken him out there and then, but then that would've just proven the guy right; so I ran, like a lot of people do; a full out sprint without food.

He kept on after me, munching on a steak. So he had food. I had to outrun him fast, and throw him off. As I ran on, I found myself at a dead end. I could 'borrow' a log from a house nearby, but I had no time. He was only a few blocks in hot pursuit, so I decided to make a purchase.

I drew my steel crossbow, and loaded a single bronze bolt on it. I took aim, ready to strike him in the gut. Not lethal, like instant-kill lethal, but would knock him off for a really long time; like a surgery and a few days at the Post-surgery care, more than enough time. I turned around, winked behind the mask.

"Sorry."

I fired the bolt. These crossbows had a lot less recoil and rapid effect. Immediately the man crumpled, hands on his abdomen. I broke a log off of a randomly made house, and used it to climb over the wall.

Only to meet a trio of the Lustace Guard. Malicious smiles worn, they drew their swords.

"Mike, I told you. He's the guy we're looking for. Ay, you Red, right? The one who killed the Consul? If you did, well, screw you."

The man named Mike went on, continuing his comrade's words. "And, time to get back on you for that. But, why do you wear this mask? Everyone knows who you are."

I made a poker face under the mask. "That exactly is the point. Everyone knows who I am, and pretty much those same people want to kill me. Any other questions?"

The third one spoke up. "Yeah, it's just, I just joined the Lustace Guard and all, and I've heard a lot about you. So, like, could you take your mask off? I wanna know who you look like."

"Well, I look like myself. If you want to know what myself looks like, well then; here."

I took off the mask, showing my face, and my name.

 _'And now you made mistake number 2.'_

I waited a few moments, and then put it back on.

"Okay, now that you've had a good look, do me a favor, skedaddle out of here. Forever."

The guards drew their swords.

"I'll take that as a no, and, slash, or a death wish." I felt for my Cobalt Blade.

'Wait. I don't have it. Holdouts and all. What's the next best I got?'

I took out an iron shortsword, one with the Shadow Triad insignia carved onto it. Guess this'll have to do. I still have Knifeshot though. As the first of them came at me, he got a knife to the neck. He exploded into a gear pile immediately. I had no time to react to that as I immediately brought my sword up barely to parry a strike, courtesy of the guard named Mike. The third, new guard, stood there; with an expression of fear, shock, and awe.

"A little help here!" Mike called out. That little diversion of attention was what I needed to kick him in the stomach, knock him with the sword's pommel, and slashing across Mike's neck. He lay on the ground for sometime before becoming a pile of gear. I looked again at the new guard. He was sweating bullets, and was slowly walking backwards. I sheathed my sword.

"I have just one thing to ask of you. Go away and leave this place; this job. This isn't for you. There are people like me all over. Just they might be even more merciless than I am. They'll kill anyone who gets in their way." I turned around to leave and then turned to say one last thing.

"Don't tell anyone this happened, or that I've been here."

He nodded rapidly, though that could also be dismissed as extreme shivering.

"Thank you." And I went on my merry way out of the Kingdom.

Until a siren blew out throughout pretty much everywhere.

 _'Dammit. He didn't listen, did he? But then that's exactly what I had this for.'_

I took off my armor and downed a Potion of Invisibility; and I faded out of sight.

Now this should be easy, after a series of fails.

 _'I actually approve of this. Better all this rather than you just going all feely feely.'_

'Point.'

I now just had to keep my footsteps silent, and not bump into-

"Ow! What was that?"

I looked up. It seemed to be a medic, with a stretcher. I stopped myself from blurting out the involuntary sorry before moving on. I crept on slowly, until I went on to the Kingdom Gate.

 _'Well, this'll be tough.'_

The whole gate was heavily patrolled by guards, left right, and center.

'Plan time.'

I took in the whole situation before me.

'Brain, get a plan in order. I ain't got more than a hundred ticks now.'

 _'Dude! I can't think fast! Information overload! Urrgghh!'_

'Guess I'll have to improvise till then. What do I go for...'

 _'Watchtower. Two chunks, northwest. Climb up. Take out the guard quick with at least moderate silence. Jump off from there, use potion of Regen. And we're in the clear.'_

'Seems fine enough in theory.'

I walked into the watchtower's lower floor before reaching the top of the tower. A guard was there alright, looking into the land outside the Kingdom.

'You're a derp mate, you're a derp.' I took out a glass bottle I had from the invisibility potion, and smashed it across his head. He crumpled instantly.

'Hope that leaves no mark.'

 _'I'll be honest here Red., you're getting too soft. There was a time when you didn't mind snapping necks to get stuff done, and now this? Knocking the guard out with a glass bottle, and hoping he's fine? You-'_

I tuned out as I leapt off the tower.

I landed with a somersault, losing 4 hearts. I splashed down a potion of regeneration and head out back to base.

'So much for getting the crossbow upgraded. I'll now need to get a 'Crossbow Modding For Dummies' book on sale, or head over to Venezer. Going back is out of the question, even with the mask. I should've taken him out.'

 **'You did the right thing Red. He was too young to die. He probably had a family to return to, which would be grateful to know that you spared him.'**

'They, maybe; but not everyone else. They know I've been here, and now infiltrating my in to take out Tyrone will be a lot harder; even with a mask.'

[Tyrone]

"He seems fine to me, even with him sleeping and all." An unfamiliar voice entered my ears.

"Well, he isn't; no one is after limb trauma and a poorly made tourniquet. He needs rest. We should leave him now."

"Even if he probably can't hear us?"

"Yep."

I heard a door open, then close.

The sound made my eyes flutter open. I took in my surroundings; I seemed to be in a bed, in some sort of room of wood. Probably like a hospital room, because there were a lot of beds.

'Maybe even enough they won't notice one missing...' I thought as I broke one of the beds. The bed broke, but it didn't enter my bag like it normally should.

'Eh? What happened?'

I looked at my hip and found my bag missing. Whoever brought me here, cleared me of all my stuff, and that made me more or less helpless.

 _'Almost. They didn't do anything about your fancy little hand tattoo so you can still teleport your way out of this place after getting your stuff. Because most likely these people are going to kill you, like nearly everyone else has tried to so far.'_

'Good point. So I guess we stealth our way through this?'

 _'Exactly.'_

'We're screwed then.'

 _'Exactly. Squared.'_

Inventory (Red): Knifeshot, Iron Short-Sword, Bronze Crossbow, 10 Bronze Bolts, Steel Crossbow, 26 Alumite Bolts, Bounty Hunter Vest, Bounty Hunter Leggings, Bounty Hunter Boots, Shadow Triad Mask.

Inventory (Tyrone): Empty.

 **A/N: Karbon here. Again. So you probably read the whole thing and are here, or just skipped all the way to the bottom to read my words in consistent bold. I dunno. Either way, just wanted to put this up that well, I've been upto ideas. Like making Minecraft more realistic in my story (Partially.) So I took the most weird aspect of it. Fall damage. In Minecraft, you fall from a 20 meter building, and you walk away in a perfectly fine way after chomping on a few steak. Like nothing ever happened. I found that well, unrealistic. (You don't say, Karbon?) So I took upon myself to fix that for my story. As seen in this Chapter, I present to you, the Crippled effect! It works similar to Fallout mechanics (I've been playing a lot of that lately) that health and limb condition are independent of each other. However, both can be healed with Potions of Healing and Regeneration. So yeah. Jumping off a cliff can't just be shrugged off by some steak now. You need proper medical attention. Now, to DBZ the rest.**

 **Where is Tyrone? Will he escape wherever he is?**

 **Will Red stop getting the Feels after he got his action gear kicked back on?**

 **Where is Finn? And where is The Reach? Find out, in the next episode of...**

 **Wait. I mean next Chapter of Factions. [Insert Royalty Free Credit Music Here]**

 **Watching: Nothing. Please Give me ideas.**

 **Reading: My Own Writing.**

 **Playing: Fallout, Minecraft, Planetside 2, Dishonored. (I love Bethesda games.)**


	14. Chapter 14: Decisions

Chapter 14: Decisions.

 **A/N:** **Karbon** **here. Again with another chapter.** **Way after deadline. Writer's block got me.** **Sure, the last chapter didn't go up on time, contrary to my words on it, but one thing to explain why, and why this one** **is not** **on time either. I'm making a game. Well, not just me. I got a friend, goes by the alias** **GhostWaffle. (He's not on Fanfiction, so don't bother searching.) We're working on it, and well, it obviously uses up my time. So, sorry. But if you're interested in how it's going, you can check it out from this link down below. Just add periods/full stops in place of spaces, because** **Fiction Press** **doesn't like links that aren't its own.**

 **forums rpgmakerweb com/index php?/topic/59376-neo-questeria-minor-update-battle-pics/**

 **Onto the reviews.**

 **Dragstream: Two things. One, the review you sent is probably the longest I got so far. But I like long. So yeah. I tried to fix it somewhat, putting more focus in the description over the thoughts, but hey, it'll take time. Good to know that you like it. For Existence!**

 **hope . rose .dawnstar (sorry, Fanfiction took your name as a link and I had to put spaces) : Thanks! Good to know people like the story! I'll try to keep the chapters coming.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, well, err... You'd have muffins. That's all I could think of. Don't look at me like that.**

 **Beta:** **Me because I got no time for Beta sending. Don't judge. I'm a bad author. :(**

'So what's the plan?'

 _'What you said. Get our stuff then sneak_ _outta_ _here. With the stuff-getting coming first. That's rule number one after being kidnapped and stripped of all your gear. So I say we get a move on-'_

'Quiet! Footsteps. I think.'

I picked up the bed in my hand which I broke before, placed it, and then slept on it. For all I knew, they were probably not going to do whatever mad scientist experiments on me as long as I was asleep, or seemed so. Because I wasn't feeling any sort of excruciating pain, or feeling empty, without a heart or spine or brain.

 **'Yep. The gang's all here!'**

'Sure.'

The door to my room opened. Someone - or something, entered the room. There was a series of footsteps, which kept getting louder. In the darkness of my eyelids, I couldn't tell whether the thing was getting closer, or just making just slightly louder footsteps each time. This thing grabbed and raised my leg which got an arrow to it before I jumped forward in time, into an undetermined day and age. The touch seemed human alright.

 _'Hopefully it's not aliens with human skins.'_

A voice followed after some touching. A matter-of-fact-ish voice.

"Hmm. This is a positive sign. The tissue recovery is remarkable. Only two days since he's been here and the muscles should be able to function without any pain. But how much that actually is true I can only find out from an actual report from the patient himself. Once he wakes up of course."

The footsteps started again, and a door opened and closed.

 _'I think we're in the clear. Get up.'_

I opened my eyes and took in the room in a more focused manner than the way I did before. It was a wooden walled room, but had a colored floor of some soft material, which I didn't notice before because of how confused I was.

'Is that carpet?'

 _'Yep. I guess.'_

I looked around, taking in my surroundings again. Last thing I want is searching the whole base for my stuff then find it here. And get caught in the process.

I walked silently on the bright red carpet, trying to not give myself away as I made an escape. Nearby I found a chest. Maybe with my stuff. And with the risk of giving me away. Biggest problem of a chest.

 _'Just YOLO it.'_

I swallowed, and crept onto the wooden box. I slowly opened it, whispering a constant "Please stay quiet, please stay quiet." No one came. No footsteps. I let out a breath, and some of my stress with it. I looked inside.

'No bag for sure.'

 _'So what? It was too good to be true. You just wouldn't find your stuff that easy. Ask me, I say it'll probably be in the nucleus of the facility with a ton of guards aware and ready to kill you on the way.'_

'I hope that ends up as a lie.'

I got back into action, and, peered into the container again. No bag, but there maybe was something I could use here. There just had to be.

'A baked potato?' As I thought that, my stomach rumbled and saw my hunger was around six drumsticks.

'Don't mind if I do.'

I ate it. My hunger bar ticked up similarly, up to eight and a half drumsticks. I rummaged through the chest for anything else in there that I could use, and the result was nothing. Almost. Pretty much the stuff in there was either to be used for some sort of medicinal use, or it had no immediate advantage for me. Nothing that would be useful for to use in my valuable single space of inventory, being my hands.

 _'How bout that_ _knifey_ _thing? Seems sharp, and deadly in a fight.'_

I picked it up and brought the handle of it close to my eyes.

'Can you see it? It says it's a surgical scalpel, not for combat.'

 _'That's only to prevent mad surgeons from going around_ _massacreing_ _people with it and have this place have a reputation of a house of insane killer surgeons. Cause yeah. Reasons and PR. So take it.'_

I admitted defeat, and tested the blade. It was real sharp and pointy from its looks alone. Like made of some metal, with a light pink shade to it. I pricked my finger on the tip of the blade for research purposes. And lost a heart of health for that.

'Ow, and heck yeah.'

 **'Drink something to feel good, and then let's get out of here! I don't want to get out of your body. You scared me with the scary possibility of surgery.'**

'Okay.'

I downed a healing potion and tossed the bottle in the chest. I picked up the scalpel I left on the ground, and opened the door out of the room. No one in the immediate vicinity. And no one in the stone-walled corridor that led ahead.

 **'Brain, you got it wrong. Now you owe me. You lost the bet.'**

 _'I_ _ain't_ _done no bets! Don't lie.'_

 **'** **You just** **admitted that you** **did make one.** **Ain't** **and no. Double negative, infers the positive.** **Your grammar sucks.**

Brain began complaining, but I tuned my attention back to the task.

'Empty corridor. That means I may just have to walk through the whole place with no problems. Or this was to lull me in to a false sense of security they're tracking me with CCTV cameras to see whether I'm kicking and their experiment worked and my leg is better. Thinking of which-'

I checked the back of my knee. It was much better alright. A small scar was there, but no major hole by an arrow to the knee or my feeling light headed due to blood loss. Wonder how that happened?

 _'_ _Get back to the point._ '

I crept along the corridors smooth stone wall, keeping a low profile. I slowly inched toward the end of the wall, toward a corner where the path turned, and pounced, to catch any possible threat unaware.

There was none. Just more empty corridor. I shrugged and went on. I restarted my 'stealth walk' as I liked to call it, holding the scalpel in a reverse grip. Another corner. Unsure of the situation this time, I peered around the edge. Slowly, not wanting to be seen, I brought my eyes to see across the wall. No one again.

'Is there anyone here at all?'

I continued on, just this time Blinking to the corner this time. This was going way too slow otherwise.

 **'** **Something tells me there'll be someone this time. Third time's a charm right?'**

'I'll swing with that. And just ambush 'em. Hopefully not kill them.'

 _'_ _You chose to wrong weapon for that mate._ _Blades were made to kill. Not incapacitate. So just follow a certain flower's advice and go on_ _with no fear or feeling.'_

I gulped at that remark. I didn't want to kill, but neither did I want to die. It didn't matter now. Too late.

"For Existence!" I whispered, peered around the corner, and Blinked behind a figure I glimpsed.

Immediately I was behind the person. I turned around, ready to strike, but then stopped.

"And what are you doing here Finn?"

The figure turned around. It was Finn alright.

Finn turned around and looked at me, eyes narrowed.

"You shouldn't be up. Your leg probably hasn't recovered yet and you weren't even awake a few minutes ago when I checked. Jumping around like that isn't just bad for your energy levels, you'll just make your leg hurt a lot again soon."

I took a discreet step back, not wanting him to show my alarm at all those words pouring out at once like a waterfall. I then answered his statement with a question.

"You still didn't answer me what are you doing here. You left about-"

"Four days ago. That's how long you've been out. Those meds keep you sleepy, I've heard."

I shrugged. "You aren't going to answer me how you popped up here didn't you."

Finn placed a friendly hand on my shoulder.

"Of course I will. Just will do that over a meal. Everyone's waiting downstairs in the basement. They'll be happy to see you awake."

"How do I know _they_ are not here to hurt me or worse?"

Finn answered as we went along downstairs.

"They won't. When has the Way Of The Light hurt someone? Except when they're part of the Legion."

"Me. About five days ago.''

Finn went a full 90 degrees left, looking right into my eyes, his hand straying toward his bag.

"You? Are you of the Legion?"

 _'This isn't going to end well.'_

I threw my hands up in the air. "No! No way am I part of them! I literally spawned a week ago, tops. Have you heard of someone just signing up there within a week of their existence?"

Finn stared at me, and then nodded.

"Good point."

We walked on down the corridor, and through a doorway of some red rock. I inquired about this.

"What's that?" Pointing to the rock.

"Polished granite."

I heard him mumble a "Noob" as we went on a little more, before descending a flight of stairs. A few moments of more walking led to a large table, with multiple people sitting on chairs of some weird colored wood. Probably something I wouldn't know for being a noob. Those people greeted us, and motioned us to settle down. I did just that taking a spare seat in between two people I knew nothing of. One seemed to be in a lab coat with glasses and a head which seemed to be focused less on the conversation at hand, and more of peeking at a small book full of words which I couldn't understand. The other seat had a young woman with hair probably dyed a sky blue and goggles circling her neck like some sort of necklace or something. She seemed calm and collected, and waiting for something. On the opposite of the table was Finn, talking to someone in a suit about something important.

 _'_ _Like someone in a panda suit can talk serious.'_

'Course they can. And they can scare you.'

The man in the suit cleared his throat, and began talking.

"Greetings, everyone. You all are probably well aware of our new visitor here. A survivor of a bandit attack, from what our agent says. One with uncanny abilities. And another fellow of ours, a martyr in the name of Notch, told us through Hotlink that this was the very man to bring a message to our Leader in Lustace, HaroldOfTruth." The suited guy turned from a general announcement look, and turned straight to me.

"Isn't that right, Tyrone?"

 _'This seems getting a bit out of hand. These people know too much. Not good. Not good. I'm stressed. GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I EXPLODE!'_

I pulled at the collar of my hoodie. "Ehh, I'm sorry but I'm feeling a bit toasty in here, and I need to go to the bathroom. Bye!" And I Blinked out of the room, running at full speed to get away from these creeps who knew all about me and my whole backstory. Almost all of it. I sped on through the stone-walled corridor I just casually walked through a few minutes ago.

 _'Well, hope a little alone time should chill me out. The social stress was real._ _Especially with too much information about ourselves which we never gave. I'm starting to ramble, but point of the whole thing is never trust a guy in a suit. They're creepy as, well, sentient muffins with teeth. Or ducks without their beaks... you get the point.'_

[Finn]

"And sir... That is the ability of his I was talking about."

"I beg your pardon? You mean his ability is to run away? And believe there is something like a bathroom?" BurnMark answered.

I stopped myself from doing a fully fledged facepalm which would probably have broken my face.

"No sir. It was how he managed to disappear without anyone noticing. You could say, he 'blinked' out of sight."

"Yes, yes. If that's what you say. It's nothing special in the way he went off. He asked, and then ran away. Simple." Mark waved me off.

"I'm not so sure about that."

Both of us turned around. It was Skyla alright. That matter-of-fact tone just fit no one else here.

There was a moment of silence. Followed by Mark breaking it with "Let's hear why are you not so sure about what I say? What's your little theory? Hmm?"

She took a breath before countering. "Simple as I saw him flash away. Like throwing an Ender Pearl. Just without the throwing and pearl. Just teleportation. Don't believe me? Ask him yourself. If he doesn't run away from your face. It fits your name."

"Touché." I spoke, just not loud enough for Mark to hear.

Mark tried to keep a straight face, keeping it cool. His lips showed him mumbling things like "Don't make a scene", "Count to ten, one, two..." And other things, but his hand was shaking, angry. As though he was offended by Skyla's comment. I won't judge. Taking either side will get me killed. Both of them looked at each other, Mark with a face stern, as always, but Skyla seemed as always unmoved by what she just pulled off.

Not something big for her. She was someone you'd better not cross paths with as an enemy. Sure, she mainly may just be a Professor at Venezer's Tinker Academy and one of the Federation's senior members in the 'education development' sector, but still. She's relentless when it comes to combat. And she files her nails with a dagger! What gets more dangerous than that?

I broke the silence, not wanting to keep my thoughts on what sort of danger I'm standing next to.

"Well, I'll go get Tyrone then. I should be back soon." And I walked out of the room, escaping the tense atmosphere inside. No wonder Ty ran away.

"Now what would classify as a bathroom here?"

I wandered the halls a bit, trying to find some sign of Tyrone, but to no avail.

"Alright. It's official. He's gone."

"No he isn't!"

And Tyrone popped up in front of me. How in the Nether does he do that?

I grabbed his shoulder and took him back to the room, where hopefully the situation calmed down.

"Why are you guys so after me?" Tyrone complained from behind my back as I dragged him along.

"We'll tell you."

"Tell me now!" He kept pushing.

"You stubborn brat." I tried to put a stop to his words. I had too much on my mind anyways.

"Brought 'em back." I announced in the hall. There was a calmer atmosphere now, with Skyla filing her nails (with a steel dagger) as she always does, the Prof trying tor read his notes without looking weird, and there was the empty seat for Will. He didn't deserve it. No one does. But they get it anyways. After all, this is Minecraftia. An inhospitable land, where it is, to quote a certain sentient flower, _kill or be killed_. Mark, straightened his tie unnecessarily, and walked over to Tyrone, who backed up a little.

"No need to be scared, I don't bite."

Ty fired back.

"But you'll stab. Everyone has who I met. Even Notch. Not the nicest guy I've met I'll tell you."

"Oh, shit." I muttered under my breath. Things are going to go down. With the last person you'd want them to.

[Tyrone]

A metal knife whizzed past me.

I turned immediately in its direction, and saw Blue-Hair, calm a second ago, now heating up with anger.

 _'_ _Forget nuclear. This woman is gonna generate more power with her yelling.'_

Weird Sense: Actually, even if she yells for eight years, seven months and six days, there'll only be enough power to heat up a cup of coffee.

 _'_ _People didn't come here for your facts. So stop 'em. No one likes you.'_

Weird Sense: Okay, bye.

As I tuned out of the pointless, albeit relatively short internal debate, I found myself face to face with a huge scythe.

'Why does every woman want to kill me?'

 _'_ _Ugly. Nuff said.'_

"Do. Not. Dare. To. Insult. Notch. Ever." That's what Blue-Hair said through gritted teeth.

 _'_ _That's an explanation you may prefer over mine.'_

"Umm… Sorry?" I squeaked before backing away into a corner. The scythe head followed me. I brandished my tiny piece of metal in defense.

"S-stay back! I'm armed!"

The scythe moved an inch back.

"You really expect me to be intimidated by that?"

"I guess…"

 _'_ _Throw it. It's our best bet at getting a hit and getting this problem out of our face.'_

'I don't want to hurt anyone.'

 _'_ _You will have to. Or others will do that to you, for you. Do it.'_

'Okay, this is your choice, not mine!"

With a battle cry of the worse level, I threw the knife at Blue-Hair. (I couldn't see her name up in the ceiling. That's why I don't know who she is.)

The knife seemed to have missed, as she turned her face in the direction of the blade. I wish she didn't turn back. When she did, it was with an expression of hate. And rage. And a million other hostile emotions rolled into one.

 _'_ _Never mind. It sounded better in theory. Well, at least we learned that you do not try to hurt someone if they're too strong for you. God handling all this stuff is hard.'_

"I'msorrytalktoyoulaterthankyouverymuchbye!" I hastily strung the words together before Blinking out of the room and running away at breakneck speed.

[Finn]

"Get back here!"

Skyla immediately gave chase, scythe in hand.

"Oh Nether no." This was not going to end well. I ran after, partly to see what happens next, and partly because I didn't want a dead friend. Sure, he isn't a real friend and all, but he's something.

Mark looked left and right. He shrugged and followed with an "I guess I'm supposed to tag along?"

I'm not sure, but I think I saw the Professor taking a sigh of relief before bringing out every single of his research papers.

This was not going to end well. If he somehow survives this, Tyrone is gonna have to have a pretty damn long talking to from me.

[Red]

"So, we got no chance to head back. And have to buff up this crossbow." I talked to myself as I brought my immediate objectives and problems into view. "What do we do then?"

 _'_ _You ask me, we got two choices. One, we trust Robertson and hope he gets done what we told him to. Meanwhile, we get the crossbow upgraded a Venenzer and maybe change up our mask as well. Head over undetected. Plus we could get some new weapons there too, as backups for places which know who we are. The other choice would involve some more risky aspects. Let's say we don't trust Rob. We instead camp out here and make sure he comes straight there. We ambush him before he gets in line, take him out, get the stuff, emeralds and done. But there's the risk of detection, and getting swarmed. Plus, knowing the kid, he probably met up with some one of those Way of the Light People, and he may take an alternative route.'_

I sat on the bed, weighing both pros and cons. Sure; Rob's been trustworthy all this time. He's been a nice guy to me. But he's a serious guy when it comes to his job. No pass no entry. And Ty slips away. But on the other end if he lets him in, I can't just get in easy. I'll need a whole changeover, with probably an alternative set of weapons too.

"Alright, I choose. We're headed to Venenzer. No point having Ty in there if we can't take him out in there. We go, get gear, change mask, get a forged pass from there, and move back. Lemme get some emeralds for the rail. Especially now that I've got a horse to go with me. And all the gear I have. Time to go old traditional."

Inventory (Red): Knifeshot, 32 Iron Throwing Knives, Reason, 12 Bullets, Cobalt Saber (Cobalt Longsword, Traits: Reinforced X, Beheading, Sharpness) Steel Crossbow, 26 Alumite Bolts, Bounty Hunter Vest, Bounty Hunter Leggings, Bounty Hunter Boots, Shadow Triad Mask.

Inventory (Tyrone): Empty.

 **A/N: So yeah. I'm a very inconsistent author. I said that early on in the chapter too. But I want to say thank you everyone for reading the story regardless. And a shoutout to OnTheCobb and his story My Craft. Because hey, he gave me one. So it's equal now. Cool. Now on to a bit more. I had a case of writer's block halfway through the story, and I had to deal with academics and all, but well; on a more positive note, we crossed our first meterstones, over a thousand views and 12 followers. *Fanfare* Also this chapter ends the first extremely vague and hard to understand arc of the story. I call it Survival. Because that's what it is. Yes the name is very creative *insert sign to denote sarcasm here*. So yeah. I say that a lot. Thanks for reading, have a look at the link if you want, and I'll see you hopefully soon in the next junction chapter to link this arc and the next one. And if you can find out who's the sentient flower who everyone loves quoting, well, Cake for everyone, cause that's the rule. This is AwakenedKarbon, signing out.**


	15. Chapter 15: Junction

Chapter 15: Junction

 **A/N: Finally. I'm free from academics and all for the summers, and hopefully I'll be able to write. But as I said in previous chapters, I'm working with GhostWaffle on a game and all, so yeah. If you're interested in RPGs and/or a bit of my dry humor, you can go on with the link below. Just add a period instead of the spaces; FictionPress doesn't like things that look like links. (Dawnstar has firsthand experience.)**

 **forums rpgmakerweb com/index php?/topic/59376-neo-questeria-minor-update-battle-pics/**

 **Now that all that's out of the way, time for some more current events. Starting with reviews, and then onto the cakes.**

 **BabyClockPhone (One of the most epic random names I've seen so far) got the question I asked last time right. It was Flowey. Flowey the flower, whose name rhymes with a lot. I would have given out the cakes, but well, the Oven of Happiness broke down, and it shows not much a sign of getting fixed. I'll try to get some alternative in the meantime, soon enough.**

 **Now to reviews.**

 **BabyClockPhone: Yeah. Flowey rhymes with lots of stuff. Bowey, trowey, and other orders I thought up of which don't exist. And thanks for the compliment. Here's to the chapters getting better as I go along.**

 **Dawnstar: So I decided to go for Dawnstar. It's a cool name. As for Tyrone, yeah. He has bad social skills. But hopefully dealing with more Crafters should change that. How long before he actually knows what he's doing? 5600 years at the least. Unless I get lazy and to wrap things up I put in a random plot device which speeds up how well Tyrone improves. Don't worry, that's no spoiler I gave. I have no idea what's gonna happen next myself.**

 **Beta: Me because I was a bit in a hurry to get this up so I could get the following chapters ready. More details later. Fur nao pleez furgiv if der ar eny gramatikal end spalling mistaks. Thanx.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. Neither do I own Tinker's Construct. They are the properties of Microsoft and mDiyo/boni respectively. Any resemblance of characters, living or dead is entirely coincidental. More legal stuff will be added in the future. If you want it, that is.**

[Tyrone]

'Where did I go wrong?'

' _I thought it seemed clear enough. First you offended her, and then you went on and lifted a hand; scratch that, threw a knife at her. And as far as my knowledge goes, you don't do that. Especially if the woman in question is able to fight back. So run.'_

'Copy that.'

I risked a look back as I continued to run along. I had a train after me. First Blue-Hair, scythe raised like some sort of Grim Reaper, followed by Finn, who seemed to be yelling something, and the suit guy just seemed to be running along for no reason. This was not going to end well. I glanced at my hunger bar; six drumsticks left. I couldn't go on running for long, especially that I got no food.

'Seems things are going to go down. Especially with Finn throwing himself in.'

' **Think positive Ty! It probably means he actually takes you as a friend now!'**

' _Or it could be as simple as a person who doesn't want a dead Crafter on his front door.'_

'Way to spoil things Br-' "Ow."

I hit the wall at the end of the hall. I turned back to see how far the predator was from me; Not more than a few blocks, but the speed dropped when Finn tried a tackle. He managed to brush Blue-Hair off her balance, but not enough to topple her. Finn however, didn't get it as well, being on the ground, looking at the scythe which was raised above him.

' _This woman needs some severe anger management. First us, then this kid. What'd we do?'_

' **What we do worse, plus what we do best. Let our morals get the best of us, and probably get Finn outta there using what makes us different.'**

'I have no idea how well that works, but I'll have to go with it.' I thought as I got up and ran toward Finn. Time was short, even more with my internal debate. And we all know how I'll get there in time.

Blink.

And I speed past the corridor, just a couple blocks away from Blue Hair. Using what momentum I gained, I jump, with a fist raised.

"Take it bi-"

' _Don't. You'll just make things worse.'_

With the overcharged punch I threw, it hit Blue Hair in the side of her head, knocking her off balance and into a wall. She didn't get back up after she fell down. I headed toward Finn.

"Y'alright?"

"Yeah;" Came the response from the downed Finn. "If you don't count pissing off probably one of the most dangerous people in the whole of Minecraftia who probably is now going to go and try to track you and kill you all the way to the Far Lands."

I gulped. This was clearly not good.

"But hey, that doesn't matter. I saved you." I held out a hand to pull Finn up.

"I can handle myself." He ignored my offer and got up on his own. "And if you ask me, I say you should get out of here. Your lack of skill does more harm than good."

I heard a groan from Blue Hair.

"See? Even Skyla agrees you're a problem."

I snapped my fingers. "So that's her name! Makes everything much easier."

"And there you go proving your stupidity again."

Skyla stirred a bit, before getting up, rubbing the side of her forehead.

"Stupid he may be, and a blasphemer, but he can throw a good punch for sure. I like that."

Confused, I asked, "Is that good, or bad?" but not before was interrupted by the suit guy, who jogged his way over, wheezing. He must be in real bad shape. But then, I've never seen a guy who wears a suit exercise. And before I went on with my thoughts straying to the weirdest, Suit Guy collected himself and questioned "Okay… what'd I miss?"

"Nothing major, except for that this Tyrone has shown some talent in handling his abilities." Skyla answered immediately. "The effectiveness is one which piques my interest, and in order to understand how they work, I would like to train this child. And bring some discipline to him when it comes to Notch." She shot a look at me, though it could be better described as a death glare. "Furthermore, there's this to consider."

She leaned in and whispered something in his ear. After scratching his chin for a moment, Suit Guy nodded his head. "It's feasible." He then looked at me. "Kid, you're lucky you're getting Skyla to train you." I plastered a smile. "So I've heard. Could you tell me you're name by the way? I can't see it up in the ceiling."

He looked up at the ceiling, before turning back to me. "Right. I can't see my own name. Only others can. But the name's Mark. BurnMark. Nice to meetcha. In a way that doesn't have you beeline away from me.

"Yeah. Just that it creeps me out when people who I never met know all about me."

A hand grabbed me at the shoulder. "Alright. Enough introductions. I ain't got all day."

"Of course. You need time to kill me." I commented.

 _'And that opens the possibility the whole training to happen is just for that.'_

I followed Skyla along corridors I didn't go by before, though they seemed identical to those I did.

"First, we gotta pick your stuff up. It's in the locker, and someone took the time to clear it out of its junk for ya. Then we get training. You've been in sword fights before?" Skyla asked without looking back at me.

"Well, yeah. Though they didn't last long."

"Care to tell me why's that?"

"I'm good at running. You saw that."

"Yes I did. We're here. Get your bag and follow me."

I went into the room, which was chock full of chests with signs in them.

"Uhh, where's my bag?"

"Find it yourself." Came the reply out of the room. "I'm not going to hold your hand all the way. You need to learn how to live. And that includes learning to find your stuff."

"Fine..." I groaned.

'This is going to take some time.'

I opened the first chest, only to close it seeing nothing but cobblestone arranged in a random fashion. "One off," I talk to myself. "And a lot more to go." I opened the next chest, full of dead bushes which seemed to have no practical use whatsoever.

'Is every chest here full with useless stuff?'

 _'It could be as simple as you just looking in the useless aisle of the room.'_

'Right. Back to the grind.'

I decided to head on a bit to the back of the room, because that's how it works. The later the stuff comes the farther back it is. I restarted my searching process from the back end.

"Empty." I dismissed the first chest.

"Also empty." I shut the second lid.

"Hurry up." Skyla's voice wasn't making things easier.

'C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!' I frantically checked through chests, not wanting to waste time. More importantly, Skyla's time. Because she hates me and is dangerous.

Somewhere in the middle, I found a chest which upon opening, had only my bag in it. "I got it!" I took it out, and headed out.

"Took you enough time. Now follow me. Gotta teach you the basics of how not to die out there. And by that, I mean how to defend yourself in sword fight."

"Swords aren't a problem for me. It's the ranged stuff which is a problem."

"Don't worry we'll get to that too. But first what matters."

We entered a large arena domed with glass and walled by a detailed yellowish pale block. Surrounding it were what seemed to be seats of wood, covered in some cloth, presumably to provide some degree of comfort to those seated. I was taking the whole scenario in when something hit me in the face.

"Rule number one. Stay in the present at all times. Right now, it's a shield. Next time, it may just be a wrecking ball. Rule number two." Skyla said lifting two fingers. "Use a shield at all times. Beats a blocking with a sword in some ways. Like this!"

 _'And we're in action less than two minutes in of entering this place. Lift that shield up.'_

Using all strength I could muster in a second, I brought the piece of wood up in between me and a sword which probably would've killed me.

As I peeked out from behind the shield, I see a nodding face. "Good. Just I wouldn't be here so calmly waiting for you to get ready and not cower. Get back, get your sword out. The lesson hasn't even started yet and I ain't got all day."

'This is gonna be tiring.' I remark as I feel my bag for my weapon of any sort. I feel my fingers wrap around a handle of wood. I drew out a wooden sword, and swapped the shield with it, the defense in my left hand, offense in the right. "Ready."

"Very well." And I was rushed at.

"Technique number one, the normal strike." Was what was heard from the attacker as I barely parried the strike from Skyla's stone sword. "Easy to do, and requires minimal effort. But as you proved, easy to parry as well."  
"Easy?" I questioned as I shook my shield arm. "It hurt."

Skyla shrugged. "Not my problem String Bean. Fighting with a blade ain't child's play."

"You did not just call me a vegetable."

"I did. Want me to take it back? Just get one hit on me. That's all I ask. But I won't go easy on you then."

"Fine then. No problem." And my stomach rumbled. "Any pre-battle snack in order?"

"Just this one time. No one normally allows a pre-battle snack or anything. Bandits especially."

"Thanks." I thanked before finding only a piece of steak inside.

"Where's all the rotten flesh I had in here?"

"Cleared out. Who eats that anyways?"

That left me to take what I could get and I munched on the steak, which added onto my hunger points, by about 4 drumsticks. Worth it.

' _Considering the steak was all the food we had, guess that means no Blink. Gotta save food.'_

'Traditional then.'

I charged at Skyla, aiming to get a strike right in the face. No one gets away with calling me a vegetable.

"For Existence!"

With a battle cry, I brought a strike down, only for it to be almost effortlessly dodged and followed with me being tripped.

"Pro tip for you: battle cries are the stupidest thing to use in combat. You just give yourself away."

' _She's pushing it now. No one just messes with my catch phrase.'_

I rolled back up to a standing position, and got struck down by something gray.

"I told you, stay in the present."

'So she's actually enjoying seeing us getting beat up.'

' _You weren't thinking that you'd get off the hook that easy didya?'_

I rose again, this time head up and shield raised, successfully blocking the hit coming.

"You learn fast. Good." Was what I heard as I made another missing strike. I hit again, and again, trying a flurry of strikes, Dodged one after another. But the exertion kept on and started taking its toll. The speed slowed of my strikes, until they were slow enough for Skyla to easily grab arm and twist around my back, and effectively disarm me. Sure, maybe one of the strongest in Minecraftia, but no one just takes a sword out of someone's hands barehanded. I was pushed to the ground.

" Of course, just flailing your weapon around will use up hunger and make you lose steam, until things end up the way they just did. So round one goes to me. Get up."

"Ow." I rubbed my sore wrist before picking up my sword for another beating.

"Okay, now this is the next major technique most used. This." And she charged at me with no plan of stopping. I brought my shield up in defense, as the blade connected, and knocked me well off my feet, and throwing me a few blocks away.

"Ow, ow and ow."

"That's the Kinetic Blow for you. That's not its real name, but I call it that. It involves using your bodily momentum to deliver a blow which can knock Mobs and Crafters well away and throw them off balance for an easy takedown. Also it has the advantage of breaking someone's block, of which you now have first-hand experience. Now you try it. Without a terrible battle cry."

I checked my health and hunger, and I seemed fine enough. 7 hearts and 7 drumsticks. Lucky seven. I'd get it right this time. Putting away the shield, I ran ahead with sword in both hands, striking and missing again, followed by a kick in the back of my knee.

"Don't just make your attacks clear enough to see them from a chunk away String Bean. You just get beaten up like this over and over."

A groan came from a face-planted me on the ground. This was too much.

"Don't complain. Get up."

"Fine." Was my muffled response as I rolled over and got back up.

"Now that you're up and probably hurting, we just have one more thing to cover. Critical Strikes. One of the most valuable techniques a skilled Crafter has in their arsenal. Pretty much any blow which is aided by gravity for melee weapons, or a strike from a fully charged bow triggers a Critical Strike, seen from the stars emitted from the weapon in question, and has the advantage of doing more damage to a threat than a typical strike. A maneuver difficult to perform in tense situations, but a useful technique to have in the arsenal. And now to return to your routine beat down of String Bean. "

"Now just before we return to that," I questioned, "Is that all you had to teach me?"

She shrugged. "I guess that's pretty much the basics for you. Now you could just give up and label yourself as a string bean Crafter, or try to show what you learned."

'All right. Gloves off. Brain, cue the music.'

 _'Yeah right. Like you were holding back and purposely getting beaten up.'_

'Your sarcasm'll never die. But then, neither will mine.'

 _'Just stop trying to think you're cool and all and get to the point. Use any means necessary. I want this to end soon.'_

 **'Don't. Our powers are our secret which we can't show to the world. At least, not without a secret identity, so no one hurts those who we care about.'**

 _'Really? You think we're superheroes? Get your head outta the clouds. We ain't no heroes.'_

'Guys? Now's not the time!'

I dodged a sword strike from Skyla, just narrowly.

"Good. You learn fast. Even if I said that before. It's just you seem to go well with the learning curve."

I tried a counter-strike, only for it to be parried away.

"Not fast enough though." I commented on myself. I then smiled. "Or am I?"

Blink. And I'm gone.

Instinctively, Skyla turned around.

And got punched. Just this time not in the face.

"Weren't expecting a hit from the back were ya?"

"No, but how'd you do that? You were right in front of me."

"Speed. Speed is key. It's a hostile world out there."

 _'And there he goes being full of himself again.'_

"Well, regardless of what it was, you did it well, for a fool."

"Jeez, what's with all that hate toward me? It's not my fault that-"

 _'No, no, no no no no! Not again! Not again! We're screwed!'_

I suddenly trailed off, possible courtesy of Brain.

"What's your fault? The fact that you dared to insult Notch?"

"Y-yes! Yes. It is my fault. I should not have made such a rash comment. So, may I be excused?"

"Yes you may. And if you make a comment like that again, I am going to kill you. Even if you don't throw a knife at me."

I hoped it was a joke, but Skyla's stern expression said otherwise.

"Thank you. And I'm not a String Bean anymore, right?" I answered before leaving heading back to where I last saw Finn.

"I would assume so." Came an answer from behind.

'God, I may not suck at people dealing after all.'

I retraced my steps back to the hall where Finn took me. As it was, there was no one new. Finn seemed to be munching at a loaf of bread while reading some book, professor dude just poring over sheets of paper. Mark came up to me.

"So how was training, new guy?"

I shrugged. "I have a name. Tyrone. As for training, got beaten up a few times, that's for sure. But the bigger question is how ya found me and know, well, enough to scare me about me."

"Long story. Actually, not so much. We'll talk about it. Take a seat."

As we sat down, he asked, "So where do I start?"

"The point that explains how you know all about me."

"You remember a man named Will. I. Am?"

"I... think I might've met him a few days back."

"A bit more. About a week, but you may not have noticed cause you were, well, out cold. Well, he told us that he gave you something important to deliver to our field officer in Lustace. We-"

"Wait. Earlier before everything, when you showed you know too much, you mentioned Will. You said he told you about me through some hotlink thing. What's that?"

"Long-range telecommunication device, using redstone conduits at near bedrock level to transmit voice and similar data of multiple types."

I sat there, blank. Mark caught that and simplified, "A phone."

"Ohh. Makes sense. I get it now."

'Thanks to Weird Sense that is.'

Weird Sense: Finally! Recognition!

 _'Shut up. Rejoice all you want later.'_

Weird Sense: Okay...

"Well, back to where I was. He mentioned having giving you a vital piece of information which had to be protected and kept safe. His life was in danger, being hunted by a monster by the name of RedRinger."

"I've met the guy."

Mark blinked twice. "You met him?"

"Yep." I nodded. "He's been chasing me ever since that note. He probably is still after me. And he's got some cool weapons and stuff. Folding swords and all. He seemed to have a knife shooter as well. So yeah. Cool guy, and scary dude. Wants the paper thing."

"The bigger question is, how are you still alive? Did you give him what he wanted? No, no. That's not it. He couldn't spare you for that. But then how come you don't have it?"

"I got away, but I still don't have it because one of your people, Esme was I think her name, took it, and almost killed me."

Mark relaxed. "If it's with one of our own, I see no reason of worry."

"So you're cool with the fact she almost tried to kill me? I mean, I wouldn't trust someone who'd try to kill random people. Or stabs them like a psycho. Doesn't seem the safest person to me."

Mark suddenly straightened, and looked me in the eye."Says you. You're new. Foolish, naïve, inexperienced. You don't know how this world works. When did you come? A week ago? You're only alive because people like us put our lives on the line for you."

"So, thank you?"

"Rather, I would prefer that you do not question those who try to save you."

"Fine then. I won't. All I ask for is to go to Lustace so I can meet the one I was to meet. It is destiny."

 _'When did you get all philosophical and believing destiny?'_

"Very well. You want to go, your choice. Just warning you, Red still may be after you."

"What'd I miss?" Skyla came out of nowhere at the doorway.

I answered. "Nothing much, except that I'm heading out and that I may have Red on my tail."

"RedRinger? Black jacket? Brown hair?"

"Yep. Same. But what do you have with that?"

"Well, I thought if you meet him, tell 'em I said hi. And take Finn with you. He knows the terrain well, and may just get you out of harm's way."

"Okay. Thanks for the suggestion. C'mon Finn! It'll take ages getting there!"

"I'm not going to argue, but you got it pretty wrong there. Lemme get my stuff."

Inventory: (Tyrone): Wooden Sword (Weak), Shield, Wooden Axe (Fairly Used), Wooden Pickaxe, (Fairly Used), Wooden Hoe, Wooden Shovel (Barely Used), Compass, 1 Book (Federation Map Of Lustace District), 2 Coal, 2 Wooden Planks, 1 Torch.

 **A/N: So, yeah. I'm late. Thanks all of you for being patient and bearing this. Now, to mention what I was talking about earlier, was that you've seen how I'm rather inconsistent with how I handle these chapters. Writer's Block comes often, and that's not helped by the fact that just the study mountain keeps getting bigger. So I have to study. But, to circumvent the problem of delaying chapters, I'll try to take a break till, about 1** **st** **August until then which I write up all the chapters that I can for you guys, so I don't have to leave you hanging till an indefinite date if the chapter can't come together by then. And one more thing. You may have seen this is going to be a pretty mod based story, with multiple kingdoms and factions being specialized in a certain mod, like Venenzer is special for Tinker's Construct for example. I have plans for others, if I get to study up on them enough, like Thaumcraft and such, and then I thought to probably leave this to you guys. What sort of mods do you wanna see in this? Think of it like submitting OCs (which is still going on BTW, send em if you want, I will implement them in a way that seems fit. Details in chapter 3.) So yeah. Lemme know of the mod, send me its name, a light rundown of what it does, but I can't assure implementation in the following circumstances (jeez, this is getting detailed...) It shouldn't be something that turns stuff OP, or affects any already laid down mechanics mentioned, e.g no Enviromine or Spice of Life, it shouldn't be a mod which provides major boosts at a level which could be easily be done with minimal effort, like thermal expansion giving you ore x2 with just little time and resources. or something like that. Just to let you know, some of the mods right now on my list are Thaumcraft, Mekanism (unsure whether to nerf the Ore x5 or not) and I have already a partial integration from Immersive Engineering, like Reason, is the normal IE revolver you can craft in the mod. So lemme know what are your plans for any mods you got, and any characters, if you want. I won't bring a mob to your house to force you. Really. No pitchforks and torches. I'm rambling. Karbon Out.**


	16. Chapter 16: Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 16: Calm before the Storm

 **A/N: Alright! Karbon here. After an age of dormancy, I has come to rise again! Though I doubt you could call it that. All it was was me trying to fight Writer's Block in a way that it should hopefully not be felt by you now. Took a lot of time putting together a handful of chapters as a cushion. On the plus side, this means academics shouldn't be an issue now. Yay.**

 **Now for reviews, which have been piling up since the age old chapter 15. Time to confront them.**

 **BabyClockPhone (Still one of the best names out there): IT IS! SPEED IS KEY TO EVERYTHING! But I don't recommend it everywhere. It hurts sometimes. Just, thought I'd give a PSA on that while I'm here. And since you won, here's a cake!**

i_i_i_i_i_i_i_i

(- - - - - - - - -)

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 **Had to borrow that from somewhere on the internet, or the cake would look like this:**

 **Yeah. Nothing. FanFiction doesn't like the way my custom cakes are made. Dunno why.**

 **Dragstream: So yeah. Academics. We both outta it now. For now. And a new arc begins, with things going to very different from before. So you know what to do. And what's happeneing next before veryone else. So please no spoilers.**

 **OnTheCobb: I see that you are skilled at finding what is oddly familiar in our stories. I'm impressed. That was one of the more obscure references, though much more detailed obvious. So a cake for you too. I don't know what else to say except you will find much, much more. Just I hopefully won't half ass it as terribly.**

i_i_i_i_i_i_i_i

(- - - - - - - - -)

|####|o|####|

 **Laner: Yeah, about that. I tried to give some degree of an answer in this chapter. Though I wonder how well it turned out to be. It could explain, or just make more questions. Anyways. Onwards before I start rambling.**

 **stark: Am doing so. Continue on. Here's to keep on going. My grammar is terrible right now.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. Neither do I own any of the mods mentioned in this fanfiction. This is a fan-made work of fiction. Minecraft is a property of Mojang which is property of Microsoft. All the mods mentioned in this story belong to their separate owners. Please support the official releases. Insert more legal stuff that rarely makes sense here.**

 **Beta:Dragstream.**

[Red]

 _'All packed up?'_

'Yep. Emeralds for the fare and other stuff, ammo for Reason and the crossbow, food, got it all.'

 _'About time. I was getting bored seeing you get your stuff in order.'_

I closed the chest and walked to my elevator. Pressing a button, I bounced out of my Lustace hideout, wind in my face. Landing on surrounding stones, I took in my surroundings.

"Good, no one came all the way here to try and kill me." I talked to myself. "Now where did I leave my horse?"

'Right. Quite away from here. At the Lustace stables outside the city, under a fake name and a mask. I'll have to sneak my horse out. Speaking of which-'

 _'Don't tell me we're going back in to get some invisibility potions.'_

'Okay, I won't.'

A trip down to get some potions later, I took off my armor as I drank an invisibility potion and saw my hand disappear from view.

'They won't see what's coming.'

With no fear of being detected, I wasted no time in heading over to the stables. As yesterday, the hostlers (I have no idea how I got that word, my theory is weird sense) were more or less slacking off. 'I'm doing them a favor, ' I thought to myself. 'And to pretty much everyone else. There won't just be constant time wasting there.'

I didn't waste time making up a plan beforehand, so I did what seemed obvious. Get on to my horse invisible, cause a panic, get the Nether out. And in doing so, have these people actually focus on their job.

I crept over to the stable labeled: 'Obsidian', the pseudonym I used, with my horse inside. I opened the gate, intentionally making as much sound as possible. One of the hostlers actually heard it but did nothing except dismissing it as the wind. All the more reason to cause a bit of panic.

"C'mon boy," I whispered to my horse, who was half-startled at a ghost talking to him, "Time to cause a ruckus."

I climbed onto the saddle and charged my way out of the gate, yelling all the way out of the stables. Some people tried to follow, but obviously couldn't catch up; as they stopped after chasing me for a chunk, panting and probably worried of what their client will say about his missing horse.

With that out of the way, I trotted on back to Skulvar, wearing my mask as I was last time. I thanked him for his kindness again, and paid him his due for the horse. Leaving his place, and travelling over the pastures in the south-west of Minecraftia, I checked my clock.

'We're getting late, relatively; a few hundred ticks off. So I guess we take a shortcut?'

 **'No need to ask. Not like you'll listen if we say no.'**

'Of course.' I opened up my map and traced a path with my finger.

'So if we head further west from here, then a bit north, through this cave, we should be able to shave off whatever time we can to get the afternoon cart.'

"C'mon noble steed! We have travelling to do!"

An unenthusiastic neigh came as a response.

"We're still going."

 _'So this is the place?'_

'Yessiree.'

 _'Hopefully it doesn't take too long. Huge caves which look like they were abandoned mineshafts aren't the one thing I'm too keen on.'_

[Tyrone]

"Got all your stuff ready? We aren't coming back; at least until we head all the way over to Lustace and back."

"I'm fine Finn. I got all my stuff. Don't babysit me, I can handle myself."

"Says the person who gets shot in the leg less than a day after I leave him."

"So what? I was one, and they were like a crap-ton of people. And I didn't have any food."

Finn looked away from his packing and turned to me. "You really thought food was going to help you?"

"I mean yeah, if it heals normal hits, why not limb wounds?"

Finn groaned. "You're so new to this whole thing; it makes sense why I'm the one to go instead of anyone else. I'm the scapegoat here. I'm supposed to teach you the ropes so no one else has to rip their hair out in frustration. And the need of that isn't helped by the fact that you threw yourself into something bigger than you are, than any of us are, all because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And you've put me in a lot of problem; having me having to deal with your stupidities and problems, and taking you out of other things that would've killed you, even going against those of my own faction. I could technically be court-martialed for this sort of thing."

"So, you're saying you're the guy who fired the arrow at Esme all that time back?"

"Yep."

"Thanks for that. And was that also you way back on my first night that saved me from the spider as well?"

Finn shook his head. "Nope, that was not me. I didn't even know you existed back then; but back to the point. I've pretty much put my life in danger just to handle you and our problems. All the way from handling Esme to carrying you back here from that ruin you tried to kill yourself at."

"So why are you telling me all this? If this is supposed to make me feel bad about myself and sit in a corner depressed and think how I'm a monster and should just disappear, it's not working."

Finn turned back to his packing. "No. It's just to ask you to be less of an escortee and a burden, and more of an ally, a team member. So don't hold me back; nor should I have to do the same for you so you don't kill yourself."

"Alright." I said, as I also decided to go over my stuff to see if I needed any food or tools as backups for the stone ones I got here.

'Everything seems to be in order.'

 _'Unless I, for no reason, say you would want a journal or something to log your 'adventure' to Lustace so you can refer to it and learn from it.'_

'Good point actually.'

"Finn?"

Finn turned around, with his bag packed and ready to go. "What is it now? Forgot something? You need me to teach you how to use a furnace again? Or how to make it?"

"Not exactly. More of if there's something like a journal I could have so I could document all that happens on the way. Maybe note down some of the tips you tell me, so that I don't have to bug you twice for the same thing."

"If you put it that way, it's gonna be useful for me at least. While I'm at it, may as well teach how to make it so you don't bug me over and over for one, like you just said." Finn chuckled at his remark, and I smiled as well. Seems I may just have a friend after all.

'Thanks Brain.'

"So first off," Finn called me back out of my train of thoughts. "We need a book."

"Will this work?" I showed him the book-map I had.

"Nope. Not at all. I mean, anyone with even the slightest common sense would know that you can't write in a book which has stuff written in it."

"But..."

"No buts."

"It's half empty."

"Still no. Go find some paper and leather in the store room. Certainly one of the guys who were here before us had to have offloaded some of that stuff somewhere."

"Speaking of the storeroom-"

"What is it Tyrone? Whatever it is, I'll tell you after you're done with getting the stuff I told you."

"Fine, as you say." And I proceeded back into the giant storage nightmare known as the storeroom.

Half an hour of chest diving later, I came back with a handful of leather and paper for Finn.

"I'm back. And now what?"

"You got the leather and paper? Took you a lot of time."

"About that, you gonna let me talk now?"

"Sure," came Finn's answer.

"What's with all the chests and stuff? Who uses that many? Plus the random stuff?"

"Alright. So you want to know the truth."

"Stop the drama. Get to the point."

Finn snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Direct. I like it."

A groan from me followed.

"Alright, alright, I'll drop the act. The story of this whole room is that much older than you think. This establishment has been here for a long time; as a sanctuary for lost Crafters and for our own people. Up until recently, this place wasn't really used consistently. So people came and went, throwing random stuff in the store when they stayed and forgot they left it. And some people would steal from it. This all wasn't helped by the fact whoever made this place gave it a storeroom bigger than well, Mark's place before he got all into the Field Operation of this whole problem we're in. We're in the middle of war; it's just not official yet."

"Okay, so lemme translate this into English. This building is really super old, with a huge storeroom. People came and went, and dumped random crap here. And as a result, things are crazy in there. But that doesn't explain why no one bothered to sort it, or why didn't Skyla put my bag in a better place than what it was in, of all chests?"

"I'll get to that once we're out. Don't want her eavesdropping on us."

"Okay, though I got no idea what could be so secretive about that."

"Now before I get sidetracked again, open up your crafting matrix."

I took off my bag and showed him the 2x2 matrix. "What's next?"

"Put one of the leather pieces in the upper left corner."

"Done." I replied as I placed the leather in its designated position.

"Fill the rest of the matrix with paper. You should have an empty book now."

"Yes I do. How do I write on it though?" I questioned.

"Using this." He tossed me a feather and some sort of black colored sack.

"Craft your book with that. You'll be able to write with it now. And let's leave now."

"Wait, I have to write all this down."

"Do it once we're out. We're losing daylight here."

"Alright. Though I'm pretty sure it shouldn't make much of a difference."

As we were about several chunks away from the base, I asked Finn some of the questions I had noted on my log to ask him.

"So, Finn. You left me about 5 days ago, calling me mentally challenged and leaving, for some sheep convention. So how was that?"

Finn mumbled something, not looking at me.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Except the sheep convention never really happened; because it doesn't exist."

"Oh. Okay. So was that why you came back?"

"No."

"Then what made you come back?" I wanted to know. "Some sort camaraderie? Friendship?"

"Neither." Finn dismissed the possibilities I mentioned. "It was orders. We'd found out about who you are during that time. I had gone back to base afterwards, only to find out what sort of stuff you had thrown yourself into without knowing what you had done. This was added on by the fact that you had that scroll. If we'd known you didn't have it, I may as well have left you for dead there, if I was there, that is. So what happened was I found out your importance and went out to find you in the vicinity. You weren't where I left you, so I looked around, until I found you out cold; and I dragged you back, the Doc fixed you up, and now you're here."

"So, not some sort of friendship."

"Nope. The truth is, friends can't be trusted. Most of the time, they're just there to exploit you. Use you. They-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down. We're at a fork in the road. Where do we go? You being navigational pro and all."

"Hmm." Finn scratched his chin. "Show me your map; I need to check the way."

"I thought you were supposed to know where to go!" I complained.

"I know where to go. What I need to see is a path which is not used, to avoid detection from any possible hostiles."

"You're extremely paranoid and serious for someone in a panda suit, but I'll take it; as long as it doesn't hurt me."

"Okay then. So first off what needs to be done is we instead head through the forest up ahead, rather than choose a normal path."

I looked into the forest ahead. It was dense for sure, not to mention dark, and creepy. And most likely will hurt. Cause that's what all forests are. "Y'know Finn," I said as I turned to him. "I'm suddenly not so sure about going in there. It seems, not right."

"That's exactly why we're going in. Everyone else would think the same and we have a clear trail. So no need to watch our backs or keep watch at night, or day for that matter. Simple as that."

"I still kinda doubt going in there, but I'll trust you here. After all, you are more experienced. And that's why you're more authoritative and all." I nearly spat the words, remembering the words which Mark used. How could he say I have no importance because I didn't exist long enough?

"Okay. You trust me. So follow. We're going in. Keep your sword at ready."

I drew my new stone sword out, prepared for anything.

"Stay sharp." Finn warned. "Danger could be anywhere, in any form, in any- GAH!"

"What the heck?!" Was my immediate response to finding Finn trying to get a spider off of him.

A 'little help here?' from Finn kicked me into my action gear and I stabbed the spider. Immediately, the arachnid's body went limp and it turned into a piece of string and what seemed to be its eye. I left it on the ground, finding no use of it.

"Darn spiders." Finn said as he got up and brushed himself off. "That's what I meant as danger can be anywhere. Spiders don't burn in the sun, so they just get under a tree and wait for prey. And then what happens is what you just saw. Let's put that behind us."

"Right." I nodded.

We carried on, out of the forest. It was a relief to be out of there. Why exactly, I'm not sure; but my bets are on that I'm claustrophobic, at least in dense areas of trees.

"Okay," Finn said. "We're out of there."

"What's next then?"

"If my internal compass is correct, there are multiple ways from here of how we can tackle this. We could just go straight here to the plains up ahead. Easy, but there's the risk of getting spotted."

I coughed, "Paranoid," and coughed again.

"I heard that. It's all for your own good kid. If Red's out there, and he doesn't know yet that you don't have the scroll, he'll kill you. You can't put that gently, anyway you put it."

"So what are the other options?" I questioned. "Because you said there are multiple paths from here or something like that."

"The other involves us heading into the forest over about a chunk north-west from here, it clears the view problem in the plains, but well, it's a long roundabout path thingy, and spiders. I hate 'em."

"Yes you do." I affirmed what he said, paying little actual attention.

"The final one involves what could be the ideal path. 65 and half chunks at a bearing of 315 degrees from here is a cavern which is more or less a rarely used path between Kingdoms of Venezer and Lustace. To me, it's the best choice; with a caveat."

"What's that?"

"The route goes over a lava lake. Or river, to be correct. It has shown flowing capabilities at certain times. "

"So, we have a safe place, with no danger except the almost certainly likely possibility of someone falling in lava. Sure. I'm up for it." I remarked.

"I see. No objections from the escortee, so no need not to go along." And he went along.

"Do you understand something called sarcasm?"

"Yes I do. Care to hear some?"

"No, what I'm trying to say is we are going to kill ourselves if we go there."

Finn turned around, and looked me in the eye.

"You say kill ourselves. I prefer the term removing any last possibilities of being followed. Furthermore, nothing should happen if we don't fool around. I took you with me on the promise you won't be a problem. You've just done the polar opposite the whole time. This isn't what I decided to come for. This is the last time. Once more, I'm leaving; and not coming back to save your sorry hide if you decide to cripple yourself again."

I opened my mouth to explain what I meant, but the words did not come out. Reluctantly, I kept my eyes on the ground, following Finn's footsteps.

We walked on quite a bit, in silence. The exchange had left some bitter feeling between us.

'So much for trying to make a friend.'

 **'Well, don't try to be a problem. You aren't real friends yet; and that isn't helped by the fact that this guy is freaking paranoid.'**

'Maybe talking about something not related to the lava bridge should help?'

 **'No harm in trying, except having to go through all this alone then.'**

"So, Finn," I began hoping for a reply which wasn't 'I'm leaving.'

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Two things. One, I'm sorry for doubting you. After all, you're the navigation dude here. You'd know what to do of all people in the situation we are in."

"Not false at all."

'Wow. Any doubts go out of the window when it comes to praising him.'

"As for the second thing, you said something about telling me why Skyla didn't put my bag in a more logical place."

"Oh, that. I can't actually put a finger on it myself."

"Then what was with the whole 'I'll tell you later' stuff? Hmm?"

"Just to buy time, and hopefully get you not questioning everything you see?"

"Well, neither of those worked; so tell me what you can. I can't work with people I don't know."

"Well then, if that's the case. All I can tell you is what probably is safe to tell; nothing more, and probably a little bit less."

"Just get to it. I'm getting bored from walking so far."

"Fine then. From what I've heard and seen, despite seeming all composed and under control, she's a bit, how to say it, off. She's somewhere in the middle of lost in thought and edgy all the time. Sure, she reveres Notch a lot, but I think you saw that firsthand. She probably wasn't focused dropping your bag off then. She never is when she isn't teaching or in combat."

"So, I guess that edginess was why she got all after me all of a sudden?"

Finn shrugged and without looking, said "Valid possibility."

"But does anyone know why? I mean, no one is like that by default. Something must've happened."

"Well, I dunno, and I don't care. We're here." Finn stopped in front of the cavern ahead.

"It goes multiple ways, but not used very much. Primarily because of well, the lava lake; and the fact this goes through several abandoned mines."

I scratched my head. "Mines? As in, people working here and getting rocks? What's the point?"

"That it isn't just rocks. The area was known to be rich in different ores. Some traditional ores, some said brought in by fractures in space-time, from alternative universes. Many of these ores found great use in contraptions and magic all around. Just it all collapsed when the miners were assaulted by some massive troop of griefers. Monsters they are. That's what we are for. The Way of The Light, selfless, dedicated to the protection of those who can't protect themselves."

"All that matters to me is that there have been fractures in space time. What in the world do you mean by that?"

"I'll tell you alright. Just we need to get in first. The early bird gets the worm and all."

Inventory (Tyrone): Stone Sword (Barely Used), Book and Quill (Log Book: By TurbulentTyrone) 3 Baked Potatoes, Shield, Stone Pickaxe (Unused), Compass, Book (Federation Map of Lustace District), Stone Axe, Stone Shovel.

 **A/N: So that's an end of a beginning for the second arc. Slow and a bit unfocused a bit if you ask me, but on the plus side I got in a bit of decent exposition. Explianed how the mods work here, something which I'll credit Dragstream for. They came up with the idea for it. And before I get ahead of myself, I just wanna say thank you all guys for sticking through this with me. You're one of the best audiences on here. Thanks a lot everyone.**


	17. Chapter 17: The Storm

Chapter 17: The Storm.

 **A/N: Alright! Karbon here. Back at it again with the late chapters. But lets just, ignore that, hehe alright? I've been getting busy. But before I start rambling to justify myself, Imma get to the reviews.**

 **Ari-Dexel13: I probably should and would've known what you're talking about especially with talking organs, and ending with a T, but starting with an S threw me off. Care to enlighten me?**

 **Dragstream: Good to know. I fixed it up. And I don't know what else major to say.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or any of the associated mods with it. They are property of their respective owners. Support the official releases and such. And hope Mojang doesn't start going around taking down fanwork also. This chapter is a memorial to the late Pokemon Uranium. Though it has nothing to do with it. Let's just get on with this.**

[Tyrone]

"So you were talking about some fractures in space-time. What do you mean by that? What's the story behind it? Because there has to be a story; there always is."

"You got that right." Finn answered. "It's a pretty weird one, but here is a story all the less. No one actually knows where the fractures came from. Spontaneous generation of these fractures out of nowhere are the main theory; that those fractures just generated, and brought whatever materials they contained, from alternate dimensions. This is-"

"Wait." I said as took my log-book out. "Before this gets any crazier, I need to get this all down. For science. You can continue now."

"As I was saying, the true origin and documentation of these fractures is unknown, but what is known properly is what these fractures brought with them. They seemed to have brought in various materials which were previously non-existent in Minecraftia. The initial response to these new materials was that of bewilderment. No one had any knowledge of what these were and how they worked. Over time however, people started to put together what the materials could be used for. They created amazing things out of what they gained; things like the scythe Skyla has. It was made out of stuff generated from the fractures. This came with other types of things, such as one or two crafters spawning with knowledge of how to manipulate these materials, new and old, into something much greater than what was there before. Crafter instinct as it is, began giving names to these changes caused by the fractures; classifying these modifications to the world, as Mods. "

"Sounds cool." I commented as I jotted this all down in my log.

'Fractures: straight outta nowhere; brought cool stuff with 'em. People learned how to make cool stuff. Epicness.'

"Things began to grow. People liked the new Mods, making life easier in different ways. But that wasn't the case with everyone. Some purists were disgusted by the changes these Mods made, saying they corrupted how the world worked now. Suffice to say, most of these purists were influential people, having spent much time mastering what they called the 'Vanilla Mechanics' of the world. They found these new Mods bringing in new people, new masters rapidly adopting the new changes and getting stronger. Inevitably, combat broke out. It began in small scuffles around the world; then these evolved into larger battles, and eventually, The Battle of Meracis."

I stopped in my tracks as I tried to put this together. "Wait." Finn turned around.

"What is it?" He asked. "We don't have all day, you know."

"My question is; how could a fight just generate so quickly out of nowhere?"

Finn sighed. "It wasn't quick or sudden, from what I heard. But then, I never went on studying Minecraftian History over in Grosjean. So my words may be a bit inconsistent or untrue in some places."

"No, no, no. That's not what I was talking about." I said, showing my book to him. "This just doesn't make sense. It can't happen. Simple hate doesn't begin a war."

Finn looked at me, surprised at my sudden display of war-initiation psychological explanation whatever thing.

"Weird sense. Feelings of a world which I have no memory of. Don't you get it?"

Finn nodded, and gestured to continue, pushing me forward into a walk with an arm behind my shoulder.

"So it doesn't make sense, not without some crazy event in the middle of phase 1, Hate, and phase 2, Kill; unless my theory is true."

Finn groaned. "Is this some sort of crazy conspiracy theory that the modded people used tamed mobs to kill and as a result caused war?"

I smirked. "Far from it. Something much, much greater. Something, from the world I've never seen. The possibility," I scribbled at the log, before showing it to Finn.

"Of this."

Δ

Finn squinted at the page. "Really? This is your grand theory? Triangles? In a land where everything is made of blocks? If you think that would cause a war, I'm the Notch-Damn President."

"You didn't let me finish." I complained at Finn's sudden outburst before hearing the truth.

"Well, finish later. We got company." Finn looked behind me and drew his sword.

"What? Where? Who?" I panicked, having not seen any mob or Crafter except Finn since we entered the cave.

"Behind you."

"Fitch. SHHHHH..."

[Red]

I took out a torch as I went into the abandoned cave/mineshaft, walking into the illuminating dark. I rarely went this way, but it was the fastest way to the station I was headed to. Bargain rates to Venenzer at a rate of only 5 emeralds. Real cheap, and real awesome. More money for me to use in Venenzer.

 _'I'll be honest here Red, I think we may as well be the first assassin or bounty hunter who actually is on a budget. Most I know are all rich and stuff, and have posh lifestyles and all...'_

'It's simply because they don't keep up with the times. Don't improve weapons, attempt new ways to hide identity, stuff like that. They just get big houses, get complacent, and eventually get ambushed by some angry bereaved person, and then killed. Just the thing is that I won't let that happen to me."

I activated my cobalt blade. "I know you're hiding behind those walls Shadow. Get out of there. I know you're there."

The name began to slowly move ahead, disappearing a moment later.

'You think sneaking will help? I've seen you already.'

Taking out my mining drill, I broke open the wall Shadow was hiding behind, only to see him missing.

"So it's a game of hide and seek? You're on. I've been playing this Spawn."

And I knew just the way to smoke him out. I placed one of my many TNT blocks near his last seen location and then created a spark with some flint 'n steel.

Fitch. SHHHHH... BOOM!

'Music to my ears every single time.'

 **'Guess that means we need an ear checkup soon.'**

The wall concealing Shadow was blown open, exposing him and what could be considered an underground room. I unfolded my Cobalt Blade.

"You are not getting the best of me this time." I warned him.

The collapsed Shadow limbered himself up.

"Yep, like last time." He drew his own steel rapier and got into a stance. "En Garde!"

I dodged a stab from him, countering with a slash of my own. I managed to graze his tunic, drawing blood. Shadow clutched his wound.

"Not so slow this time, are we?"

"Nope. Just this time I'm here to kill you now."

Shadow's expression darkened, as he tried to jab at me again. I tried a backstep, only to get the tip of the blade in the side of my gut. Shadow charged further in, trying to bury the rest of the blade. I coughed blood, as I pushed against having a piece of pointed steel in me.

 _'You just oversimplified it. Ruins all the intensity.'_

'Now is not the time, dammit!'

 _'All I wanted to say was just shoot him in the face.'_

I took out Reason from my belt with my free hand as Shadow gripped it, taking away one hand from the rapier.

"Uh-uh." He shook his head. "No Reasoning here. Just death."

'So I guess this means all fight laws gone?'

I answered with probably one of the most dirty tricks in combat. I rammed my knee between Shadow's legs. He immediately recoiled, leaving his rapier stuck in my gut. He laid on the ground in a fetal position, clutching his, er... family jewels. I pulled out the rapier and drew Reason.

"Sorry kid, all is fair in love and war; especially when your life is at stake." I pointed Reason right next to where his cheek would be, had there been no mask.

"Adieu."

I pulled the trigger.

*Click.*

I swore aloud. Did I really forget to load Reason?

No matter. I'd just take him out here. Right now. With his own sword. I grabbed the bloody sword with both hands, and then plunged it down into the collapsed body.

Just that it wasn't there anymore.

"Sloppy Red," came from behind, as I heard a knife being unsheathed.

"Not today, nor tomorrow." I turned around, cutting Shadow in the face, but getting stabbed in the shoulder. I cried out in pain at the new wound. My breathing had accelerated.

 **'Things aren't good; we have only four of me left.'**

 _'He means hearts. Not copies of himself.'_

"Not... now..." I muttered. I pulled out the dagger in my shoulder, after which I downed a healing potion, after which Shadow recovered and came at me bare fisted. With whatever strength left in me I managed to stab Shadow right through the chest. I heard a gasp from him. I probably punctured a lung of his.

I pushed him off of my cobalt blade, and laid him on the ground.

"F-Finish... it..." Shadow groaned.

I turned around, and began walking away without a word.

 _'You really just did that?'_

'What do you think? You saw it yourself.'

 _'Are you really going to just leave him there on the ground without taking him out? He could get up and take you out anytime later on!'_

'Relax. When was the last time you saw someone survive after getting stabbed in the lungs and left for dead on the ground, and then kill the one who did it?'

 _ **'I know, the last time that was the case with you.'**_

'That doesn't count. Shadow isn't me, nor am I Shadow.'

 **'It doesn't matter! We're late! We have a train to catch!'**

'Jeez, calm down. We're moving.' I answered as I hobbled on, cursing and sipping at another healing potion to dull the pain coming from all over me.

[Tyrone]

I turned around and saw some green abomination swelling up and lighting up. I barely brought up my shield yelling. "What the shit-"

Boom.

I was thrown into the wall of the cave, having lost 3 hearts from that. My back hurt from the impact. I got up, rubbing it.

"Finn," I asked, "What the shit was that?"

"Creeper." He said that with a matter of fact tone. "Weird green things, come up, explode, Crafter dead. Mostly. You were lucky that you managed to bring that shield up."

"Ihhh..." I heard a groan from the darkness.

"Really? I nearly get blown up and now I have these guys to deal with." I drew out my sword.

"Welcome to Minecraftia, where everything can and will suddenly go to shit."

Needless to mention, several other things came out of the darkness; skeletons, spiders, and the like.

"Who takes left?" I asked, trying to formulate some semblance of a strategy.

"No one. Just live until these things are dead."

 _'There goes all plans outta the window.'_

'Everyone can see that.' I answered as I slashed at an approaching zombie. I followed it up with a stab to the chest, after which there was the normal dust explosion in my face. That caused me to miss an arrow coming at me, which nailed me in the jaw.

'There goes talking for me.'

I Blinked in the direction of the arrow, approaching the skeleton immediately. A single powerful strike across what would be its neck turned it into dust, dropping bones, an arrow, and its head.

I shrugged. At least beheading works realistically here. I turned around at the sound of a spider, slashing it aside. It tried another charge, but I used its momentum against it as I cleaved it through, getting another fistful of dust in my face. A zombie followed up, which was soon dispatched with enough stabbing in the chest. In the moment I had before the next mob came up, I checked my sword. It seemed fine and was holding up well so far.

Finn called out, "There's too many mobs out here! There's gotta be a Spawner somewhere! Take it out!" I had no idea of what Finn meant exactly, but I realized at least that there was something causing these monsters, or mobs, to be coming way more than usual. I had to disable that somehow.

"What do I do to that?"

"Just...break it! Destroy it! Something like that." Finn answered as he knocked away a zombie with the pommel of his sword.

'Where is it, where is it?!' I panicked.

 _'I dunno, maybe from where all the mobs are coming from?'_

'Sounds most likely.' I readied my pickaxe in my offhand. 'You could say it's time to get cracking.'

 _'No, just no. I have no idea how that's related to what's up, and it was terrible anyways. 0/10.'_

'I'll agree.'

After sighing at the poor feedback, I began fighting my way against the wave of mobs; one zombie, then another, then a spider. I was taking hits, but pushed on until Heart warned me I was getting in the critical zone where I'm about to die. I fell back, blocking myself off in a tiny room as I munched on some baked potatoes waiting for my health to regen.

"Finn?!" My voice barely made it through my self-made wall to shield me.

"What?!" Came the answer. His voice felt like he barely understood what I said.

I checked my health. 3 hearts. Enough. Hopefully. I should make it if I play this safely. I broke one block of my tiny dark room and called out again, hoping to get my message through.

"There are too many mobs out there! I need you to cover me as I take it out!"

Finn placed torches all around where he was before coming over.

"Break that room of yours and get to it. I gotcha."

Both Finn and I fought our way back to where I was, and looked around for a spawner; before realizing I had no idea what that was or what it looked like.

"What does a spawner look like?" I voiced my question.

"Black, cage-y. Mob spinning around inside. Break it. I think I see it up ahead." Finn said as he knocked away another zombie from behind me. I squinted my eyes to see where Finn meant. Then I saw it; a cage I couldn't see clearly in the dark, but I could see a spinning zombie, out of which more zombies kept on popping out after a few seconds.

 **'Seems like what we saw back then in the dungeon.'**

Shouldn't be as much of a problem as I thought then; especially with what we got from there. I Blinked forward to the spawner and began hammering at it with my pickaxe. A couple of whacks broke it, and as last time a few glowing orbs came out of it. As I readied my sword again to take out the remaining zombies, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. I fell down immediately, my vision beginning to fade.

'What just happened?'

 _'No idea... I think... some seda...tive... thing...'_

As I struggled to maintain consciousness, I heard the rest of the zombies go down. I looked up, seeing some people whose names I couldn't see. They knocked down Finn as well. I tried to call out, but the words didn't come out. I passed out on the stone as I didn't even feel myself being picked up.

When I came to consciousness, I found myself slung over someone's shoulder.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud.

"On the way to our base, idiot." I got a gruff sounding reply. "And don't you even try to wiggle your way out. An arrow to the face is all you'll get. We got dem archers everywhere."

I gulped. Were these the griefers Finn was talking about? I was expecting something more... imp-like. Apparently they're people too. And they seem to mean business.

 _'And I would judge they'd try to kill us. So our best bet would be to ask for help somehow.'_

'Enlighten me how are we gonna do that?'

 _'We use your log book, write a help message, and hope for the best.'_

'And if things don't work for the best?'

 _'We're toast.'_

'So comforting. But as you said, that's our best bet.'

I stealthily took my logbook out of my bag, as my carrier's movements became unstable. He seemed to be dozing off slowly, blinking continuously. Best to use that lack of awareness to my advantage. I began scribbling down a help message, but before that, I tried to get some more information off of the half asleep guard.

"Where's your base by the way?"

"Just up ahead, then first left. Why you ask?" Came a groggy answer.

"No reason."

"Oh." He began on again, sleepy as before.

"Dude? How long more? I wanna sleep."

"You know how long. Plus you slept last night anyways didn't ya? So what's ya damn problem?"

"I'm sleepy."

I looked over my shoulder and saw Finn being carried by someone else, who groaned at the comment he received. I salvaged this time to write down my 'log for help'.

'We have been kidnapped by griefers of some sort. They plan to take us to a nearby location not far left from here. There are 2 of us. Plz save us.'

 _'I have no opinion on how potenially awkward of a plea for help that is.'_

'Could you write better?'

 _'Dunno.'_

'Then don't question.'

I dropped the book at what was a crossroad bridge in the cave. Looking down, I could see lava flowing. So this must've been the place Finn was talking about. It's not as bad as I thought it would be.

A couple paces later, we were at some structure at the wall.

The gruff guy who was carrying me put me down. "Don't move."

I did just that as he broke down some cobblestone fixing that was made there. He dragged me in there, as Finn was carried in as well. And then another blow to the back of my neck, and darkness.

[Red]

'So we're finally at the crossroads.' It was a surprisingly uneventful travel here after that whole combat with Shadow. I had no idea what was with that, but I didn't mind.

 **'Less the fighting the better. Need to conserve strength.'**

I felt the heat of lava on my face as I reached closer and closer to the center of the crossroads.

'Just past here and we should be on time to get to Venenzer.'

As I walked on, something caught my eye at the edge of my vision. Turning in its direction, I saw a book; a plain and simple book, right in the middle of a bridge over a stream of lava.

'This is random as hell.' I remarked, as I picked it up.

 _'Maybe a lot less when you read who's the author.'_

As I ran a look over the cover, I realized the whole thing maybe wasn't so random after all.

'Log Book: By TurbulentTyrone.' It said. I skimmed through the pages, seeing if there was anything useful in terms of information that could be salvaged. However, what I found was mainly what seemed to be some crafting recipes, some crazy pointers of the possibility of a secret society having caused the Mod War, and the like. Going on further, I found a hastily scribbled note after that.

'We have been kidnapped by griefers of some sort. They plan to take us to a nearby location not far left from here. There are 2 of us. Plz save us.'

I read that over again. 'A plea for help? Griefers' location not far left from here? And who the nether writes please as plz?'

'Tyrone. That's who. And from what it seems, he shouldn't be far from here. We should probably look around. Find something off. That would probably be the griefers' hideout. We find Ty, kill 'em, take the scroll, and we head to Venenzer. All ends well.'

 **'Or he may just give it to us out of thankfulness!'**

 _'Is that a word? Whatever. Find the place, ASAP.'_

'Got it.'

It took me about 250 ticks looking around, or 15 minutes according to those who're new to Minecraftia, for me to find a sort of outcropping of cobblestone, in stark contrast to the surrounding smooth stone. I shook my head at that. Who can be that bad at hiding themselves? Had there been any sort of anti-griefer operation somewhere around, they could've been toast and dead by now. But nope; consuls are either too weak, too lazy, or too scared. After all, those who try to mess with dominant griefer groups end up just like Consul Kimberly, killed by hired hands like me. Only a matter of time before-

 _'Get to it. You're wasting time again.'_

'Right.'

As I placed a piece of TNT and lit it with a redstone torch, I drew Reason, planning to make a dramatic entry. In the last moments before the blast, I checked again if Reason was loaded. Fortunately, it was. As the blast went off, I threw on my mask for further intimidation. I entered and was greeted by shocked faces, which scrambled to gather their weapons.

'Brain, cue the slow-mo and music which make me look good.'

 _'Really? Fine I'll do it.'_

As dramatic music blared in my head, I aimed and fired at the handful of griefers that were getting their gear, them becoming items instantly after. Six griefers down, I swapped Reason for my Cobalt Blade. Unfolding the blade, I charged at the remaining.

One tried to come at me with an iron sword; I locked blades with him for a moment before taking him out with a knife to the chest, courtesy of Knifeshot. As another tried to come from behind, yelling, I ducked and slashed, taking him down by his wounded legs.

Meanwhile, the leader, who was waiting the whole time, donned an expression of stress as he unsheathed a bronze sword, probably obtained off a crafter coming back from Venenzer. He stepped back, blade raised. A single bead of sweat formed over his brow.

"Just, who are you?!"

I smiled behind the mask. I loved it when I could give myself a much more epic identity than just a bounty hunter.

"I, am Judgement."

I charged forward using my sword's momentum as I bridged whatever gap there was between me and the leader, whose name I didn't bother to read as he was going to die soon anyways. I parried a panicked strike from him, who clearly didn't expect to face judgement so soon. As I pushed him away, I took out my crossbow in my off hand, and fired a bolt right into his stomach. He was knocked off balance from the force of the weapon, with the bolt going all the way through his iron chestplate. Using this to my advantage, I struck his hand to make him drop his weapon. As he clenched his hand in pain, I grabbed him by the head, brought my stained blade to his throat, and pushed him all the way to the closest wall.

"Where are they!?"

"W-who are you talking about?" He answered, panicked.

"The prisoners. Where are they!?"

"L-look, we can make a deal here, Mr. Judgement. I don't wanna get hurt. We can discuss this on the table, without a blade at my-"

I took the blade away from his neck as I rammed his head against the wall.

"Answer me! Where are the prisoners!?"

"I-I don't kn-know. Which ones? We've had a lot, most d-dead."

"The ones you just brought in!" I answered.

"Oh, th-those? They're not here anymore." He answered.

I threw him on the floor. "Where are they?!"

"Ouch." The leader winced in pain, not answering.

"Where are they?!" I said as I brought my boot closer to his skull.

"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you. My men took them over to a nearby camp of those Withering dudes. They were gonna sacrifice them to their stupid Lord, I heard." He gave a worried chuckle.

"Where is that?" I said in a somewhat less intimidating tone.

"I dunno. Some of their own dude came and led 'em off."

I removed my boot from his skull as I left him as he was.

'No need to kill if he can't.'

 _'Well if you won't now, he will again eventually. Plus, you are so called Judgement. Judge him for what he did.'_

'Good point.' I thought as I reloaded my crossbow and fired it right through his helmet. He joined his friends as a gear pile.

 _'Now the big problem is what do we do now?'_

'Catch the train. We're getting late. If anything, Ty will probably somehow get out of there and head to Lustace anyways. He's stupid, but he's best at getting out of stuff; so we got him covered. Let's go.'

Inventory (Tyrone): Empty.

Inventory (Red): Inventory (Red): Knifeshot, 31 Iron Throwing Knives, Reason, 6 Bullets, Cobalt Saber (Cobalt Longsword, Traits: Reinforced X, Beheading, Sharpness) Steel Crossbow, 25 Alumite Bolts, Bounty Hunter Vest, Bounty Hunter Leggings, Bounty Hunter Boots, Shadow Triad Mask.

 **A/N: Alright! An end to another chapter, with the situation picking up pace again, things are getting harsh, not to mention a decent chunk of exposition about why the heck are mods existent here, when they normally aren't Minecraft. I'll credit that theory/phenomenon to Dragstream. They came with the idea for it. Not to mention Judgement. I had fun writing that. All in all, I kinda liked how I put this chapter together somewhat. That said, thanks all of you guys and gals, and I'll you all next time.**


	18. Chapter 18: Sacrifice

Chapter 18: Sacrifice.

 **Important: Keeping in mind the recent feedback, I've set up a poll up on my page concerning it. Voting would be appreciated, especially if it results in a bit more varied feedback on the reviews in the end.**

 **A/N: Anyways. Another chapter on the way already. Time flies doesn't it? Feels like a few days since I put up number 17. I feel a bit more divided about how well I did this one, its like a little clutterfunk collectively which I put together with some degree of cohesion. That aside, enjoy your chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or any of the related mods. Minecraft and Mojang are property of Microsoft. The mods mentioned in this story are the property of the mod creator of said mod. Please support the actual content.**

 **Beta: Dragstream.**

Earlier...

[Finn]

'Ow, my head hurts like Nether.' That was the first thing that came to mind. The second thing was being bound. I opened my eyes to near complete darkness; which led to question number 3, where in the Overworld was I? As my brain began functioning again, I heard unfamiliar voices. And if what I saw before going out cold was true-

I gulped at the realization. My mind was racing to put the pieces together, and it all made sense. We had been abducted by griefers. Why, I don't know, and at this point, I'm in no position to ask either.

"Ey boss, what we do of these scrubs? They ain't got no money, tools, or any shiny crap." I couldn't make out the Crafter's features in the dim light in which I could see from here, but I identified him from his weird voice.

"Kill 'em then?" Another one of them gave a solution I wasn't too keen on seeing followed.

"Not at all." One of them said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Doing so would be a waste. Most Crafters are worth more alive than dead."

From hearing what he said, I gulped as I thought of all the disturbing fates which may as befall me and Tyrone.

"So what do we do? Sell 'em? People sell well, right?"

"Oh, no." I muttered under my breath, a bit louder than I should have, realizing the danger of what was next; which was compounded on by the sudden silence throughout out the place.

"What dat?" Shrill voice asked. "Oi, Grindel, check it out."

"Why is it always me? You go."

"Oi, you're younger, that's why."

"What the Nether you mean I'm younger?! Get back here you-"

Sounds of a fight broke out; punches, grunts of pain, a bit of cheering from unfamiliar voices, and the whole nine yards of it.

'Do I take this as an opportunity?' I thought to myself. They're off fighting each other, it's dark, and well, I dunno. I want out. I wriggled a bit, trying to loosen the ropes. Luckily, they weren't as tight as they felt.

"Now if I could just-" I whispered.

"And that's what you get for messin' with me, Grindel! Now go check what was there!"

Grindel sighed. "Fine." He seemed to begin walking my way to check on us for the sound I made. I closed my eyes as I lay back next to the wall, faking sleep.

My heart accelerated as I heard Grindel's footsteps disturbingly close by. I held my breath. He paced around a bit, or so I heard, before the footsteps became quieter, with Grindel's 'announcement', "Nothing there, probably a rat."

A shrill voice gave an answer to that. "That's what I meant when I said you were younger. There ain't no rats in Minecraftia, noob." There were a couple of laughs following that.

I opened my eyes just a slit to see what was going on. The coast seemed clear as I opened the rest of my eyes. Now back to getting away. If I could just get one arm free, the rest shouldn't be too hard. All I'd need is my tools, get my shears outta the bag, and snip my way out.

In the next 100 something ticks, and a lot of joint pain, I somehow wriggled my arm out of the bonds. Now if I can get to my shears-

Right; I'm supposed to be bound. Of course they wouldn't leave me with all my stuff. So all I had with me was hope that I won't get caught, and my skill in being something resembling an escape artist, if you could accept the reasons behind it.

"This isn't hard for you Finn," I gave what may as well have been the first pep talk given by me, to me. "You've been through stuff like this before. It's not too hard. A wriggle to this side, a shake that way, try to breathe out, you know what to do."

As tips from practice way back in time came back to mind, I kept an ear focusing on any sound from the griefers.

"But I heard slaves don't sell well these days."

Someone with a more leader like voice answered the question arising from a restarted discussion; one I didn't hear before.

"That's true. Since the increase in enforcement of anti-slavery laws, it's harder to get paying clients who can afford slaves without getting arrested and blowing our cover. SO, while I was out, I found an alternative. Easier, permanent, and well paying; surprisingly."

"What is it boss? Making them mine for us?"

"Not at all. These mines have been more or less stripped dry; and cobblestone is almost pointless to sell, even by chest loads."

"So what'd we gonna do? We fresh outta ideas."

"Sell them for sacrifice."

As I redoubled my efforts to now get out of my bonds, I felt the possible leader's voice deepen as he said sacrifice.

'This is going to end worse than I thought.'

'Or not.' I tried to comfort myself. All I need is to get my tools and get out of here. Saving Ty isn't really a need if my survival is at stake.'

As I managed to free myself out of all but the last and tightest bonds, morality started taking over the survival instinct. 'Just look at what'll happen if you don't help him. He gets killed, you go back to base, everyone gets pissed, you get kicked out and all you worked for is poof. Even if you don't go back, you'll feel like a turd for doing that until you're dead; and Tyrone will most likely curse you from the afterlife.'

As negativity began flooding my mind of thoughts of me being an obnoxious excuse for a Crafter, I managed to slip out of the last of the ropes. Tyrone was surprisingly asleep the whole time. I'd assume the sedative or whatever they used would have worn off on him. Apparently not.

Just before I left I whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, I'll come back for ya. But I'm still not your friend." And just before leaving, I came back and whispered, "Hail Notch."

And from there, I continued in an attempt to get my stuff back and have both of us get out of here scot free. I tried to stay away from any sort of light in any way possible; because rule number one of stealth is to stay out of light so you don't get seen. So what I did was creep along the wall we were tied up by and inched my way across, careful to not make a sound.

'You got this Finn, you got this. Just stay quiet, don't make a sound, and don't try to step on that wolf's tail.' I thought as I barely missed causing a ruckus by about a centimeter.

As I tiptoed along the aisle shadowed in darkness, I found a narrow cave unmarked with any sign. Natural? Curiosity getting the better of me, I tiptoed inside. And tiptoed back out, struggling to keep my breakfast inside.

Heads. Lots of heads. In near total darkness. Inside there, it was a sort of 'trophy room' of theirs, where they kept all their victim's heads. Why would they do that, it's above me. But then, I'm not a griefer. Of course I have no idea if these heads stimulate dopamine glands in these dudes, but I'm not gonna argue; especially because I'm not in the position to have one. As I moved on further in the hope of finding the supply cache, or whatever has our bags, I heard footsteps.

'Not good at all,' I panicked as I hid myself in the dark of the head cave. Who was it? Did someone find out I'm free? What's gonna happen now? As the footsteps stopped, I risked peeking my head out of the cave. No Griefer or a Crafter at all. Just the cave as it was before. I gulped, somewhat audibly, afraid of some Griefer planning to give me a jump-scare before stabbing me through, assuming I don't die of a heart attack. False courage taking over fear, I creep out slowly and-

There was no one, no one in sight as far as I could see. But there were more voices now to keep up with. This one raspy and in pain; talking with who I took as leader before from the dialogue. Bargaining. My mind put it all together. Tyrone wasn't just going to die; he was going to be sacrificed in one of the crazy heretical rituals of The Withering. Which from limited knowledge and accounts from people we've saved, is very painful. And very pointless. Though I'll spare the details, might make some unable to sleep. Saving Tyrone became a much more important issue, and fast. But to do that, I needed to find our stuff. I moved closely towards the conversation, trying to see what was actually going on. Maybe they will decline? I moved closer to a nearby boulder, hoping to find something useful.

"So you're saying that you've found two people willing to give their lives in the name of our lord and savior? His Greatness would surely value such a sacrifice."

"As I said before, while they are not willing, they will not resist. Come, let us show you who they are. But first-"

"Is it your worldly riches that you desire over the internal peace of that you have served to bring back his Greatness back to the plane of the living?"

"Very much so. I may not believe in whatever your Wither Lord is, but I respect your views. I'm not going to kill for what you say. In fact, I may as well consider this the beginning of a business, if you accept. My friends and I find Crafters for your Divine, and in exchange you pay us, or let us keep whatever the Crafters possessed." The leader put out his hand for a handshake, whose face I could see a little better in the light.

His name was straightforward, short, and if one goes for homophones, explains what he spreads with his little band of amoral people. 'Payne.' He seemed to me as an albino, with his hair and skin so white it seemed nearly colorless. At his side he had a sword of bronze, probably stolen from a crafter returning from Venezer meaning no harm. The other's name was not above the head at all. What was with that? Neither was the Withered dude sneaking. Was that some sort of side effect of Perpetual Withering? That the Wither takes over your very identity?

The Withered shook Payne's hand with his own, which had begun to blacken and wrinkle. "May it be so. His Greatness shall be pleased with your deeds, and He may count you among the worthy when He returns." He coughed after that. "Pardon me. Now where are those prisoners you were talking about? Payment will be done afterwards."

I felt something in my stomach. This was not going to be good. They'd find me missing, catch me, and effectively blow all my efforts out of the water and into the sacrificial flame. I have to find something to stop this. In a frenzy I look around for something to help get out of this mess, when I finally find what I was looking for this whole time.

'Supply room. It's right up ahead, across the room. What's the one way we can get across the place without anyone knowing?'

There seemed to be no hidden paths where I could get through to that place undetected; but then, they wouldn't be hidden if you could see it easy. No paintings or anything of that like either. I took in a deep breath. I'd have to go in the open if I wanted to get there, but how am I going to go by undetected? That was answered with the griefers in the room leaving, following Payne and Withered to see Tyrone.

"Thank Notch," I muttered under my breath as I moved quietly towards the supply room.

Inside was a pair of large chests. Our packs had got to be in there, or they destroyed them by fire. I rummaged inside, finding lots of random items, but not ours, nor our packs. What I feared for the worst seemed true enough. They took all that's needed, and threw away our packs; which led to me having to resort to option two. I wasn't a fan of killing outside of self defense, but I had no alternative at the moment. I'd have to kill to be able to actually get to Lustace with something.

Taking out an enchanted iron sword and a strength potion from the chest, I sneaked out of the room in order to find a potential victim. I had to stay undetected, or all Nether would break loose and both of us would go down. There was a single guard in the back of the whole group, sufficiently far enough to pick off. I didn't like this at all; there always is an alternative to having to kill a person. Mobs are another thing, but killing someone with a mind, hopes, dreams, a soul? That's just downright wrong. You take away all that with just a single series of wounds. You give them suffering, and then destroy all they were-

'At this rate I may as well submit myself if that's the case. Life is brutal, and I'll have to deal with it. So take 'em out.' My killer instinct spoke to me. Giving in, I drew the sword and downed the potion, feeling the power of Strength II. I felt unstoppable. With what power I now have, I snuck behind the loner before pulling back, choking him down till he moved no more.

I smiled at this. At least the potion allowed me to not have to kill. I unslung his satchel gently, not wanting to cause a stir. As I was checking inside to see what he had, I heard a shout from Payne.

"One of them is missing! Where is he? Go find him!"

'Sheep.' I thought. 'Looks like to hide evidence I'll have to hide you.' I dragged his body away, hiding him in the supply room. I felt the tension rising as other griefers tried to find me. There was no way I could hide in here forever. With a prayer of protection from Notch, I made a break for it. No direction or purpose. I just ran. Running to get away from danger. From this cave, the griefers, from everyone.

From this world. There was something out there, something which gave us these memories of an alternate time. A safer place. I wanted out. Which I felt I began to find. A light at the end if the tunnel, or rather the room. I could make it; I could be free of this, get help, save Tyrone and have this all end happily like a fairy tale.

'But Minecraftia was never a fairy tale. And it never will be.' That I realized as an arrow lodged itself in my upper back. I tumbled over with the push, ending up on the ground face first. I tried to scramble up, only to collapse again. I checked my vision to see what had happened to me. I feared the worst, and the worst happened to me. Nausea, poison, weakness, slowness all combined in one. I swore with what energy I had left. Those damned arrows. One of those arrows of the Withering's hunters, used to take captive any unwilling sacrifice. This was not ending well.

[Payne]

"So you got him?" I asked as the Hunter lowered his bow.

"Most certainly. No one has been able to withstand the toxin of our weapons, let alone a prisoner."

I breathed in relief. Good thing the person the Withering sent was a hunter, or we would've lost a fair share of emeralds.

"We will not pay for the panda human."

'What? That more or less makes it useless for me to give it to them!'

"But sir, that would be against our deal. Two Crafters, 5 emeralds each. That's what we decided on. No more or less. With all due respect, this would be the last way you would treat a client on their first interaction."

"You know nothing, fool. The expense of preparing the toxin was much greater than we were giving for this human. You should be grateful for these rates." The Hunter answered in his normal raspy voice.

His answer sparked another question. "But why would you use something that expensive for something that unnecessary?"

He brought his bladed bow close to my chin. "You are not of us. You do not deserve the right to question our ways and methods. Understand?"

The point of the metal almost touched my nose. Stepping away slightly, I gave a frightened nod. The Withering may be something no one gives two shits about anywhere else, but here in the south, they're a real danger. The sort of people you would want to mess with last. So I let them be after they paid me the five emeralds they owed, before he took both of them with him, slung on his shoulders. It didn't make sense. That dude who looked anorexic from the sickness he had, he should've had a problem handling just one. But no; he handled two like it's no problem. Now that is some goals to go for when trying to get ripped.

'For the past few hundred ticks after the whole excitement, the whole den life became as it mostly is; duller and duller. Which is why we do what we do. We're bored. The people in the Kingdoms are corrupt, and the people there are boring, repeatedly doing their monotonous jobs for pocket change for their meal at the tavern at dusk. These people are unaware of the dullness they live in, and are content with it. I'm not for that life. I prefer to live on the edge. The adrenaline, the fear, it's exhilarating. Not to mention it pays more than say, a farmer. There are risks, but as I mentioned, I live on the edge.' I wrote this in the log book I found off of a person we took out a week ago, and repurposed it for my own wants. Writing about what I did sure helped against boredom. As I signed off from there, I heard an explosion from the cavern face.

"The Lustace Guard." I talked to myself. "They finally found us. Time to make sure no one of them comes again." Drawing my sword, I walked into the main room, only to see a nightmare. An unnamed Crafter, masked; and with a gun. This wasn't no guard. This was someone from the Syndicate here to kill us. And we were screwed.

[Tyrone]

After waking up with the feeling of getting punched in the back of my head, I awoke with a pained groan. This was some jail cell I was in, all made of cobblestone, and some metal bars at the front, along with a metal door. I called out.

"Hello? Is anybody here? Get me out of here please." I was answered with the sight of a really thin and black dude in front of the bars. Not being discriminatory here, he wasn't the dark skin color black. He was 'black' black, like night black, in a more realistic shade.

'Technically, it's more of a gray but yeah, more black than gray.'

'So it doesn't matter.'

"So, uh, hi. Could you help me outta here, mister, where's your name?"

"Your queries and needs are irrelevant. What matters is your role in the greater tapestry. Come, let your blood fuel the revival of the Great One." His voice was raspy like he had a real bad cold. I opened my mouth to ask all the many questions on my mind, but remained silent as the door opened and two other thin things came in and took me out, drawn bows pointing at my back.

 **'That's rude, calling those people things.'**

 _'Well, do they look human? Not to me. They seem unnaturally colored and thin. I mean look at 'em; I can see every single of them.'_

 **'But they're still not things. They're all just ill or something maybe.'**

'They wouldn't want to kill me then, with their all sacrificial crap.'

 _'I wouldn't hinge my theories on that; everyone's tried to kill you so far.'_

'Good point.' As they took me with them into a dark room with a single fire burning. The room smelt weird; something like, burning flesh. Blood was on the walls in intricate patterns, like some sort of occult-like symbols.

 _'I have a bad feeling this is what I think it is. Some bloody ritual involving us as a sacrifice. Probably involving some crazy dance around the fire with chanting in some weird language which would summon a demon in my room.'_

'Now that must be real bad.'

There was a white pedestal on top of the fire, its lower side blackening from the blaze. Suddenly I was grabbed by the arm by one of them and pushed onto the pedestal. Black hands grabbed all of my limbs as the one who pushed me brandished a black-purple dagger stained with blood. Whatever this sacrifice was going to be, it was gonna be bloody. And I don't like bloody.

The person began with muttering something in a language making no sense, before taking out a bucket of blood and dipping his dagger in it. Whatever this was, I didn't like where this was going. I tried to struggle to get out of what seemed to be certain death, but grip of those withered people remained firm.

 _'That actually is an okay name for those people; Withered. Fits nicely.'_

'Now is not the time for that Brain!'

He painted some sort of lines on my jacket. What they meant, I didn't know.

 **'But what I know is one of them just outlined me.'**

'If what I think is true, this may begin with a lot of heart stabbing. Or end with it.'

A sort of chanting began from the Withered circling the pedestal. It began as a whisper but became louder and louder. The chanting came from all directions, and it was steadily driving me insane. I was yelling inside, because yelling in the middle of a chant of a murderous cult isn't the best idea.

The knife wielder himself was chanting loudly, hands on his chest like a mummy before bringing the knife into a reverse grip, held just above my marked heart.

"Nu blodet tillhor din herre dods!"

This is how I end. 'Sacrificed to the Wither lord thing.' Sounds stupid.

 _'Not today; you ain't dying like that. Jeb's gonna kill you again if you do.'_

Jeb...

The knife came down-

And it bounced back against the white marble. As those holding me clenched their fists involuntarily, the killer looked at the knife, confused.

Before he crumpled under my weight, dropping his weapon.

 _'Take that bitch! Chuck Freaking Norris is in the house!'_

'That did not count as a dropkick though.'

 _'NO ONE IN THIS BLOODY SHITHOLE CARES!'_

'Language...?'

 _'No one lecturing me on any damn thing today! Get that knife Ty, time whoop some withered ass!'_

'You're making this uncomfortable.'

All the less, I grabbed the knife, called a 'Thaumic Obsidian Dagger'. I got no idea what that means, but it probably hurts. As I looked up, I saw three bows pointing at me.

'I'm out.'

I turned tail and ran, swerving to the side to avoid the arrows coming at me. Whatever the case, I didn't wanna get a Crippled effect at this point in time. One of them yelled, "Seal the door!" Although a yell would be an overstatement for a voice like theirs. As I heard the loud ka-chunk of a lever, I saw the door to the hallway get smaller than before. And once again. At this rate, I couldn't run through it. But-

 **'We're low on hunger, but we gotta do it. Or we're stuck here in a 1v20 match with just a knife.'**

Using whatever energy I had left, I Blinked through the closing door, which shut right behind me with the sound of rocks colliding.

'We got some time at least. We gotta find Finn and get the hell outta here. If he's here at all. Now if I was Finn, where would I be?'

 _'A cell like you were? After all, they probably would cut him open after you.'_

'Cells then. If not there, we GTFO.'

 _'Sounds like a plan.'_

I retraced my steps back to the cells, surprisingly without any resistance.

 **'Maybe because they were watching you die? That or they're having ice cream. Everyone loves ice cream.'**

As I found myself on the holding cell room, I found most of them empty except for a head in each. Normally I would've struggled keeping my food down but there wasn't any.

'3 drumsticks remain. We gotta find something to eat soon.'

Ignoring the complaints of my stomach and the sudden fatigue from reaching that level of hunger, I continued looking for Finn.

"Head here, another head, one more, this is the tenth I've gone by; where are you Finn?!"

I heard a sound from one of the cells further ahead. I tried to hurry over there as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast. I reached the cell from which I heard the sound. I saw Finn hunched up against the wall, not moving.

"Help..." Was all he uttered without looking at me.

What had happened to him? I wondered as I opened the door to his cell. He didn't move.

As I stepped inside, I came closer, before he unsteadily showed me his palm.

"Go away..." He said. "I'm Withering."

Inventory (Ty): Empty.

Inventory (Finn): Empty.

 **A/N: Be honest here. How many were expecting that? For one, I wasn't. Yes I never have any idea what I'm writing half the time. And I go down the writer ramblings I go on about every single time. I'll keep this brief. Thank you guys again, and stay classy.**


	19. Chapter 19: Uncalled Events

Chapter 19: Uncalled Events.

 **A/N: Karbon here. Back at it again with the chapters. Last time we left off, Finn was Withered. Does anything different happen because of that? I can't tell here, because that removes the need of the chapter. But I'll say this much a lot happened here. Without further ado, let's do this.**

Beta: Me. Couldn't get it to Dragstream on time.

Disclaimer: I don't own any mods or any content this story may refer to. Mojang, Minecraft, Tinker's Construct, Thaumcraft and Immersive Engineering belong to their respective owners. Support the official content please. Maybe tell them I sent you.

* * *

[Tyrone]

"I'm Withering. Stay back." Finn warned me with an open palm. He was huddled up in a corner. Scared. But why?

 **'Could it not be more obvious? He's dying, Ty. He's Withering.'**

"Withering? Like all those other weird dudes out there?" I asked, coming an inch closer. Finn wasn't like that. He needed help.

"Don't come closer. I don't know which type of Wither sickness this is. I don't want you dying because of me. It's the only reason I'm still here."

"Gee, thanks. But your sitting here isn't helping anyone. You're practically committing suicide in a slow and painful way, I think. I dunno. I'm new."

"It's still better than going into an urban area and spread it everywhere. Plus, it's unlikely there's anything like a cure for it. Otherwise we wouldn't have this whole Withering Cult thing."

"You sure?" I questioned. "They seem pretty chill about the sickness. Maybe they're Withered because they like it. Gives them some spiritual entitlement or something maybe. Well anyways we need you up and running. No one got anything done sitting on the floor all day."

"Tell that to the city beggars. And as I said, there's no hope for me now." A single tear formed around his eye. "I'm dying, Ty. And I haven't even finished my bucket list yet."

Something came over me as I gripped him tightly. "You're not gonna die here. You're a main character. There's probably some crazy experimental treatment out there which is going to heal you up, but the thing'll probably work like a drug and unless you take it like that, you'll turn into a reasonless monster who's going to kill some other main character before someone kills you." I loosened my grip. "At least that's what happens most of the time."

Finn said nothing; he just gave me a blank stare, as though trying to comprehend all the crap I just sent his way. A moment later, he answered, "The amount of probablys and the mixed messages you're sending with the whole 'my cure' thing shows you're probably not sure on this."

"I'm a hundred and one percent sure on what I mean. C'mon." I patted him on the back. "We gotta move. The Withered are probably coming my way, and they probably aren't happy considering I ran away from the sacrifice."

"You what?!"

"Talk later. And you'll probably have to walk yourself out. I'm not the strongest guy when I'm hungry. And I wouldn't like having you fall all over me. So get to the exit. And you may want this. Just in case." I tossed him the Thaumic Dagger, which Finn took a moment to marvel before he rambled toward the door.

"You're not coming?"

"Nah. I got some things to handle first."

"Like what? And hurry up. We don't have all day."

"Food. Meat you at the exit. Get it? Food pun? Heh heh?"

Finn groaned. "Just come back alive. I don't want to tell HQ you died because you were hungry."

"Of course." And I left, not knowing where the food was.

 **'I doubt they even eat food. I mean they're skinny to the point of being anorexic. What are the odds of them actually eating food?'**

 _'Surprisingly high. All living beings need food to survive, unless these dudes are plants or eat rocks. Which is really unlikely.'_

'So we just go around in this behemoth of a cave looking for food?'

 _'I'm open to better ideas.'_

'Well, this is going to take a long time.'

I closed my eyes for a moment before I chose what direction to go.

'Left. Because it's always right.'

Hugging the wall, I moved into the left corridor, which was rather dark like the rest of the places in the dim torchlight and it had cobwebs up in the corners. A short path, but divided into multiple rooms.

' _So there's a ton of rooms. One could be the food store, but all others could be empty or have killer Withered. And if we don't make a move, we die of starvation. Seems like a good game of Russian Roulette to me.'_

'Way to make it scarier, Brain.'

I took to the first room at the left, entering the room with the fear of getting an arrow to the face, but as it was humid air in my face instead of something pointy, I took a deep breath in relief. It seemed to me that I was in the living quarters of one of those people. A single bed, a crafting table, furnace and a chest. I opened it up hoping to find anything of use inside. There was the loud creak I had became accustomed to, and inside were a plethora of random items which I had no idea what they were. Not to mention I couldn't carry them. I had nothing to carry it in.

' _Go through it carefully. Maybe there's something like a bag in here.'_

I rummaged through the Withered's stuff, black bones, white bones, coal, a handful of other odds and ends and-

'Finally. Some bread. I guess they do eat to survive.'

' _Told you so.'_

After munching down the bread, my hunger went up to five drumsticks, not bad but not optimal either. The hunger based fatigue had gone away however. I felt stronger than a few minutes ago. With the newfound strength I looked back inside hoping to find some other useful stuff.

'A handful of torches. Useful, but not worth my whole inventory. A half broken stone sword? Eh, I'll say that goes into the shortlist. All else fails, we take that. A stick with two iron caps? What's this for? Whatever it is, I dunno. Looking a bit deeper, I found a red cap like thing, which seemed like it could fit on the stick I saw earlier. I did just that, and it seemed a perfect fit. 'Iron capped wooden wand' it said.

'Wands? What is this, some wizardry fairy tale?'

' _I would've said that we've got into some wizardry business here, but that would fold universes on themselves and a certain someone is gonna be pissed.'_

' **I feel a great power in it. I say we keep it as long as we can. May just pull off some crazy magic.'**

Going through the last of the chest gave nothing. Nothing better to take along over the wand at least.

'So, next room?'

' _Assume so. Rinse and repeat, until we got a lot of food to eat, or a way to carry stuff again, or until we're dead.'_

' **I wouldn't like option 3 to be true. Just saying.'**

Getting up and out of the room, I moved to the next one at the left of the first.

The inside was no different than the first, except for a sort of rack which for some unreal reason had a bag on it, rather conveniently.

I shrugged. It didn't make sense, but hey, I'll take it. Free stuff and useful stuff. Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I felt my carrying capacity expand.

'I just hope I don't lose it again. That'd suck.'

' _All the more possibility of that happening.'_

I checked inside the bag to see if whether it had anything of use. Inside, the bag was rather empty, having a stone sword, a black leather tunic with a sort of bone drawn on it, a handful of rotten flesh and-

"Eep!" I barely stifled a yelp at the fact there were heads in the bag. 2 of them. (Shut up. You'd do the same finding a decapitated head in yours.)

' **I wouldn't be surprised if I were you. These people are pretty much cultists of a sort who like cut people open. They probably like heads. Like I like ice cream.'**

'I came to the wrong neighborhood it seems. I have to get out of here.'

' _Food first. Get whatever food you can from the chest and let's skedaddle. I hear someone.'_

'Who even uses the word skedaddle?' I thought as I opened the chest and threw things out randomly in an attempt to find any food inside faster.

"No, no, no, yes!" I yelled aloud as I found a pair of apples inside. That should be enough. As I munched on one of them to bring up my hunger, I heard the door open. One of the Withered came in. They seemed confused, staring at me.

' _This doesn't seem good…We have to get out of here.'_

As I began shuffling my way out of the room, the thing began to draw its sword and scream for assistance.

' **Are they things now? You can't dehumanize them like-'**

'NOT NOW!'

I drew the wand out of my bag and yelled, "Stupefy!"

' _Dammit. Wrong universe you fool. Get your sword instead.'_

Before taking heed to Brain's advice, I gave the wand a little shake, and it spouted fire all over the place, setting the Withered on fire.

' **Hell yeah! Flame city! This is our turf now!'**

'Is it just me, or does Heart always go crazy at stuff like this?'

' _He just goes crazy all the time. It's just more obvious around zombies and stuff. And we need to leave before this guy stops burning. Or we slit his throat for a permanent silence.'_

'No. I'm not bloodthirsty.'

I hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind me and putting down a block of wood in front of the door. Just in case he tries to get out.

' **Now you even assumed their gender?! How could you do so? They could be anything! Not necessarily a He!'**

'Any proof otherwise?'

There was no answer to that.

' _Well, we got a bit of food, something to carry stuff in, and a yelling and burning trapped Withered in probably their own room. And I have a feeling we are going to get a mob behind us soon. It's been to long for us to be safe here.'_

Nodding to the voice in my head, I began retracing my steps back to where I left Finn, and go toward where he thought was the exit from there. He was the Nav Expert after all. He'd know where to go.

Reaching where I had left Finn off, I raced along the corridor right of Finn's cell. If what Brain was inputting was true, I didn't have much time before they caught up. And even Blinking doesn't get one away from a mob. As in people mob. Not creeper mob. The path seemed straightforward so far, no major turns or junctions.

' _Because we've barely run a 100 feet.'_

'Oh. That's it. I have nothing clever to say.'

Running on, I checked my hunger. From seven and a half to six and a half. I had a bit of subpar food on me, in case things went south, so I needed not to make any more detours. I kept running on, hoping to find some light at the end of the tunnel. Only to find a right turn instead. I kept on moving, jumping in between to speed up a bit.

'I have no idea how that works, but it's useful. Especially running from an imminent mob that wants to kill me.'

' _Could we just get over with your monologues and speed forward from you just running?'_

'Maybe. Maybe not.'

Running on from that turn I made, I found myself at an opening, decorated with an arc of some white stone.

' **If that's our ticket out, I'll be having some ice cream.'**

' _I'd prefer not. Too much is gonna freeze me over.'_

Running into the opening ahead, I found myself in a cave untouched by Crafters in comparison to everything else I was in a few moments ago. There was a single sign ahead, on which it was written: Going beyond this point without permission is considered treason, and treason is death.

' _Treason it is then?'_

'I'd take it so. After all, we ain't of these Crafters and neither am I ever coming back here.'

As I left, I used my wand to torch the sign. Nothing better than leaving your captives with property damage on the way. I took a glimpse of the red cap I placed on the wand, it was glowing dimly, a single ember burning. Shrugging, I decided against putting the wand in my bag. Last thing I wanted was burning the bag I went through having (not so much of) issues finding. From there, I began walking into the lit passage which hopefully would lead me to the surface.

As I walked on, everything happening inside that cave began to string itself together and play in my mind. And with that, questions. Just what exactly do these people want? Other than stabbing people in the chest after drawing pictures on them? Like, what is their core message?

' _I dunno, maybe some crazy cultish practice? I mean hey, cults have been the way people have validated irrational and stupid stuff like this since I don't know when. Sometimes making them believe the world is ending, other times-'_

' **We're getting off track. As in literally. I think you took the wrong path while you were in your thought cycle Ty. I have a feeling we went downward instead of up. How you missed that is above me.'**

'Well, while we're at it, may as well explore the place. Could be a rune around here.'

Though in hindsight I felt it unlikely. The place was well lit, and it meant someone was here, and here often. But something edged me forward all the less. How bad could it get anyways? After being thrown off a cliff that is. Drawing my sword, I began my search for 'something vaguely useful' in a cave path apparently picked clean. There always was the chance of finding a rune. Or just free stone, if I had a pick.

' _Technically speaking, one wouldn't just keep a place lit if there was no purpose in keeping it so for prolonged amounts of time. So look around. Tap a few walls maybe. That's how you find the good stuff.'_

Shrugging at the idea, I decide to perform a hasty search of the area in case I may find something more useful. After trying and failing to find something just by sight, I resorted to accepting Brain's solution. Taking out my sword, I began quick taps on the walls of the room, hopefully to find some pointers. In the middle of my haphazard clinks in stone with the hilt of my sword, I heard footsteps, faint and for a short time, but there all the less.

'Is that someone after us?'

' _Logic and current events would denote that. So move fast, or get ready for a fight.'_

Hammering faster at the walls with a worried haste, I heard a sound different to the normal 'clink', instead a deeper clonk.

' _That's our way through. Go go go!'_

'I-I don't have a pick.'

' _Dammit! Use your sword! Doesn't matter if it breaks, if we hide away we should be fine! Now do it!'_

I begin to feverishly hack and slash at the rock, the footsteps slowly getting louder and heard for longer. I didn't have much time, something I can't emphasize enough. I see the bit breaking slowly, my blows cracking it.

"C'mon, open up!" I say as my blows become desperate strikes to escape whatever terror is coming my way. Moments after, the stone gave way, revealing a dark path ahead. With a silent celebration, I struggle into the opening. Whatever was after me, I didn't want to stay behind to see. Inside, I waited for whatever was following me to give up. For all I knew it could just be a massive murder mob pissed over the fact someone just ran away and went against their customs. I dunno what I'm talking about. But I did feel soon after hiding that the footsteps became inaudible.

'So?'

' _Sigh. Yes. We did it. Woo. Now let's talk about what we liked the most. J-just look around and find something useful.'_

Taking Brain's suggestion, I draw my torch and begin what initially seemed like a trek into a deep unknown.

Which took nowhere as long as I had expected it to. Right at the end of the narrow pathway, there was a chest, in plain sight.

' _I smell a trap. Why else would the chest just be like that?'_

' **Because convenience? And that it was hidden well enough otherwise, don'cha think?'**

'Whatever. I'm going ahead with it.' Sword at my side, I walked toward the chest, and pried it open with an all too familiar creak. Inside was a single patterned rock, like that which last time I found-

'Tentacles!'

' _Technically they're tendrils but-'_

Darkness.

* * *

When I woke up, there was the void again I was familiar with from last time.

"Guess it's about time I upped my rune hiding game."

I looked around, and found Jeb again, in his old leaf wreath.

"I'd say long time, no see, but it actually hasn't been that long. How'd you know I'd hide something there?"

"I didn't. Just thought _someone_ would hide a supply cache here of some sort. Something more useful than teleporting short distances."

Jeb gently bit the side of his finger before nodding. "You're right. Teleporting short distances, while seems cool, isn't exactly interesting. No matter how practical it is, you've experienced that yourself. But yes, it isn't fun exactly." Jeb began walking around, gesturing.

"So I've got a better idea. Something much more entertaining. For me, and you. Yes I have been watching every move of yours." As he must've seen how I looked at him funny at being a stalker of a sort.

"And no, I am not a stalker. Just an old man trying to not get bored. It gets lonely here, you know." He said as the gravity of his voice lightened a bit. But he soon shook that off with his head, his composure returning. "But of course you did not come here for fun. You want power. Or a power rather. And I have a pretty good one in mind."

Jeb snapped his fingers as a small weirdly colored block popped into existence, floating above his palm and he began tinkering with some near microscopic buttons on it.

"What you're seeing here is something people fail to see their entire lives. Consider yourself lucky."

I rolled my eyes, muttering "Seems more like I'm anything but. Run-ins with murder cults isn't luck."

"I heard that!" Jeb spoke aloud, not taking his eyes his cube.

'Of course you did.'

"There." Jeb said after tapping the cube a last time. "Unlike the old Blink, this one should be a lot more entertaining. Heads up!" He cried out as an egg came right at my face. It nailed me right in the face as it broke into pieces.

"What was that for!?" I complained.

"Just a showcase of your next cool ability. Use bio-energy, throw eggs. Cause why the hell not? Try it yourself."

"How to do that exactly?"

"Just think you have the eggs in your hands. And they should be there."

'Eggs.'

Sure enough, a small egg generated out of nothing into my hand, ready to be thrown or-

"Can I cook these eggs or something?"

"No. Because one, there is no such thing as an omelet in Minecraftia and two, I config-ed the eggs in a way they explode in contact with any surface that is not you. Except the egg I threw at ya. Non lethal explosions, they're more of a pop the egg. Ah, you'll understand."

I stared at Jeb for a moment, trying to comprehend this change of events.

"So, in a nutshell, I can fabricate eggs, and throw them at people. But if I try to use them somewhere else, pop goes the egg. All I can say is that I never asked for this."

"Of course you didn't. It's called serendipity. Now enjoy as I take you back to your mortal plane."

I returned back as I did last time, just with significantly less profanity involved, but as it was, I was back next to the chest in the cave.

'Find our way out now?'

' _Find our way out.'_

As I turned around from the chest and moved back toward the lit chamber, I felt a difference.

'There're no footsteps anymore.'

' **Probably the person moved on; had more important things to do maybe? Just a theory I'm putting out.'**

' _I wouldn't worry too much. Creep comes close, nail him with a crap ton of eggs. Done. He still moves, shank him till he stops breathing.'_

'I would not like to know where the second part came from.'

From the chamber, I returned to the path from where I deviated.

' **I can feel where going right this time. Upward and onward.'**

I nodded at the voices inside me as I keep moving up, torch in one hand, sword in the other. The path which followed was straightforward, considering how it was meant for the so called _traitors_ of the order or something. If I made something like that, I'd probably add a ton of traps here and there, make people think twice before leaving and-

' **Snap back to reality. We almost fell over a ravine, thanks to you. Stop wandering off in your thoughts. You'll kill us all if you keep that up.'**

I blinked as I saw my feet inches away from the gaping mouth of the ravine, all into gobbling my puny existence up and leave no mark. Taking a few moments here taking in the danger I narrowly avoided, I turned back to the path, suppressing all thoughts.

'Can't think if you're dead- dammit! Harder to keep this brain quiet than I thought.'

' _I can keep quiet; you just make me open my metaphorical mouth.'_

I moved on, slowly climbing up the steps up, hoping to find the end to the cave and breathe fresh air again. Luckily, it wasn't far off from there. A bit of light blue could be seen from the top of the stairs.

' **Found the end. Now we gotta get some ice cream. Called it before.'**

'Okay then, I'll buy us some ice cream once we get outta here. Happy?'

' **Yay!'**

As I climbed the last of the stairs, I felt the wind in my face again. It felt good to be outside again.

'But where's Finn?'

The thought was answered by the sound of someone vomiting off in the distance.

' _I think that's him. Being sick and all.'_

I ran in the general direction from where I heard that.

"Finn?!" I called out.

"I'm here. I'm here. No need to panic." Finn came out of the trees, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Withering's getting to me worse and faster than I thought. Got some food? Kinda emptied my stomach there."

I tossed him an apple.

As he began munching on the fruit, he asked, "Whurr next?" before coughing harshly.

' **Not sure if that was choking or sickness.'**

"Sorry. Where next, I meant."

"Where we were headed before. Lustace."

"That's not exactly easy considering how I have no idea where we are right now."

"But you're supposed to be the navigation expert!"

"But I'm still a human! I'm still fallible. I can still die… I'm gonna die."

"Finn, don't make me have to go through that all over again. C'mon." I complained as I tried to move the quivering crying ball that was Finn. "You came with me for a reason, and you're not leaving until you're done with it! Do I make myself clear, FinnThePanda?!"

"Siryessir!" He came back up with a sudden jolt, saluting me.

Finn took a moment to actually comprehend what he just did, after which he let down the hand and shook his head. "Guess old habits never die."

"And neither will you. Stop being all depressed." I proceeded to drag him along by the arm, trying to make at least some degree of progress.

"Move, darn it!"

"Fine! I'll do it. I'll walk myself. Don't need you babying me around." Finn coughed as he tugged his sleeve away from me.

As we walked on, I spoke my mind about Finn's condition. "I ain't no doctor and shaman or whatever you got here, but I'm pretty sure you're not in the best of forms."

Finn didn't even bother to look at me, but rolled his eyes. "No shit Sherlock."

"So you have sherlocks here?"

A semi-awkward silence.

"Okay. You don't have sherlocks as doctors or whatnot. By the way, would you be cool with it if I torched down these trees so we could see a bit better? I'm not too keen on walking in a place with trees and spiders and stuff."

"No. Environment matters. No one's torching anything with any Flints and Steels."

"What about with this?" I shook the wand in front of him, which let loose a gout of fire to the right of him, torching the grass. "Sorry."

"Do you have any idea what that is?"

I glanced at it, remembering the name. "An Iron Capped Wooden Wand?" I answered as I withdrew my arm from Finn's face.

"Do you have any idea what it does?"

"Sets things on… fire?"

"Where did you get that?" Finn threw another question at me, like a parent who found there kid doing something wrong.

"In the chest of someone Withered? And, I think I may have accidentally set them on fire too."

' _Good job. Now not only do we look like a thief, we also are a pyromanic probable killer.'_

' **Niiice.'**

' _There is something wrong with you.'_

"Tyrone. Do you have any idea what you've got yourself into, _again_?"

"No." I shook my head.

Finn took a deep breath before telling what I got myself into again.

"Yer a Thaumaturge, Tyrone."

* * *

Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Leather Tunic (Dyed Black, Withered Insignia) Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, Head (Danipe) Head (NoMansFriend).

Powers (Tyrone): Blink, ShotEgg. (Any better names, please?)

Inventory (Finn): Thaumic Obsidian Dagger (Necrotic)

Fractures Discovered: Tinkers Construct, Thaumcraft, Immersive Engineering.

 **A/N: So…yeah. I wasn't lying when I said that things went a bit too far in this one. Lots happened. Tyrone may have gotten a bit too OP (needs nerf kthanxbye) but, he still will face lots of stuff, with problems. I can tell you that much, even without exactly knowing what is going to happen next. (Funny that coming from the author themselves…) I also went ahead and put down what fractures have been documented already by Tyrone, so to know what's allowed and what's not. The fracture entries are still open, as are characters. You've seen what things are getting to now; I can honestly say there's been no better time than before to actually send 'em in. City hubs are getting close, how much I dunno again, but they're coming soon, and there's lots of people there. But there are still questions. Can Finn's Withering be cured? Is being a Thaumaturge really a big thing? Anyways, thank you all again for reading through this, and I'll see you next time.**


	20. Chapter 20: Village

Chapter 20: Village

 **A/N: Alright! Karbon here. Back at it again with another chapter. I don't have much to say again, except that circumstances have made it such that the Beta Spot's open again, and anyone interested can lemme know. Until then, enjoy the chapter.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or any of the mentioned mods. If I did, I would've added chairs. This is a work of fiction. Any characters and views are not a reflection of the writer. Any resemblance of characters, living or dead is purely coincidental. Please don't get triggered or sue me in case of a potentially controversial topic e.g. Silverback Gorillas. Insert even more legal stuff here.

* * *

[Tyrone]

"I'm a what?" I spoke out.

"A Thaumaturge. A miracle worker, you could say."

"What?"

"A wizard."

"But I'm just a normal person who has no idea what's going on. I can't be some sort of wizard, right? I don't even look like one."

Finn started walking on again in the direction we were going in.

"Believe it or not. Truth's truth. Otherwise that grass wouldn't be lit right now." Finn said without looking back.

"Okay, but I still won't take your word for it. Not until you got real legit proof." I answered as I followed, wand still in hand.

"So, where to next?" I asked as I jogged to catch up to him.

"Lustace. Thought you knew."

"I thought you didn't know where it is from here."

"You're right. I don't. But that's where we're going in the end. Or at least, you." Finn stopped again.

I did the same, and pointed my wand at him. Finn backed away.

"Could you, for once, stop being so depressed about your condition and dying? I'm getting tired of it."

"Jeez. Calm down. You'd be no different, knowing death ain't far. Waiting. Stalking you. And please, just put the wand away. It just emphasizes the danger."

"And I told you," I said, withdrawing the fiery tip from Finn's face, "You're gonna get better. But it's not gonna be possible if you don't cooperate. I don't know anything about this place. So you're my best bet at me not getting lost. You help me outta this, and I do the same for you. Without any depressed complaining. Deal?" I put my hand out.

"That was pretty understood from the get-go, but yeah. Deal." Finn shook it.

"So, where exactly are we going?" I asked, looking around. The area was much sparser in vegetation, the grass being less dark of a green, and significantly less tress than most places I had been around.

"I don't know, but what I do know is we should be in a place not far from a village, or whatever remains of it."

"What do you mean whatever remains of it?"

"Looks like I'll have to teach you a lot before I'm done. May as well have added that to the list. _Teach a newb._ Sounds like a noble thing to do." Finn coughed. "Sorry. For both."

"So, teach me then." I asked.

"Remember those griefers?"

"What?"

"Griefers. The people who kidnapped us, and sold us off to those cultists."

"Yes? I don't follow. What does that have to do with villages?"

"Well, they all aren't as simple as kidnapping people and selling them off or holding them ransom. This way." Finn pointed to the left, though I couldn't see how he knew where he was taking us. There weren't any landmarks or anything, at least nothing major.

"So what do they do?"

"Go into villages, pillage, kill, enslave, vandalize, destroy. Mostly just the first. The others are for the sickos."

"So you're saying that there's a chance that Griefers came in, and trashed the place?"

"Exactly." Finn nodded and snapped his fingers. "That's why they're called Griefers. They cause grief to others. So doing that, they go ahead and trash settlements, rob places, blow up stuff, cause chaos and stuff. There are less violent ones, also. Rather than ripping people and places to shreds, they make people do it themselves."

"Uhh, so they drive people to… you know what."

"Yes. Suicide. Painful topic to talk about. That's why I hate Griefers. As much as I hate killing, those people deserve to die."

I looked aside as my eyes widened at the statement. A few days ago, same person was pissed at that I killed a sheep. Now he's calling for an elimination of who knows how many people.

"Then why isn't that the case though Finn? If they're bad people, why hasn't anyone taken them out yet? After all, there're probably groups like yours all over Minecraftia, not to mention all the cities around. They maybe got guards too. So?"

"It's a lot more complicated than what's morally right and wrong Tyrone. There're personal vendettas involved. Sometimes it's using the Griefers to use, to take out a rival faction. Something I didn't mention before. Those Griefers are sometimes also like mercenaries, paid to kill. It's a bloody business, but people take it."

"So, would that make Red a Griefer? Based on that he kills and all?"

Finn nodded. "Yup."

We walked on for a few moments, before Finn stopped and squinted, looking off in the distance. "I think we're close. I can see a hut or two from here. But I can't confirm any damage."

"Good. C'mon." I waved my hand in the direction of Finn's view. "Better not keep Leet 2.0 waiting."

' _Really? Leet 2.0? What were you thinking?'_

'Nothing much.'

I began a light jog in the village's direction, going over what happened the last time I spent a night there.

' **Zombie sieges. I don't want another coming.'**

'What?'

' **You forget quick, don'cha? All zombies, helmets, panic, mercy and everything?'**

'I remember. Just that what's the case with you panicking whenever zombies are around?'

' **Have you ever looked at one? They're creepy as hell. Rotting, dying bodies coming to get you.'**

' _The chances seem low that there'll be another siege though, because there wouldn't be any villagers alive otherwise.'_

'But our terrible luck counters that.'

' _Your terrible luck. Not ours.'_

As I looked behind, I could see Finn coming along in a slow jog. He waved an outstretched arm. "Wait up! I'm not the fastest after what happened."

I slowed down to a stop, turning around to meet up with the now panting Finn.

"Wait, it's… hard… running… with this. Condition." Finn completed his sentence as his breathing stabilized. "Hopefully milk should be helpful enough to deal with this."

"What's with milk?" I questioned. "I know it's good for you, vitamins and minerals and all, but I don't know of any medicinal use. So what's it do? Enlighten me."

"I'll tell ya as we walk, we're not far now. C'mon."

As we walked a little further, I saw the village come into view, or at least what seemed to be some sort of gate for it. A small one, but a gate nonetheless.

"So the thing with milk is that, it seems to have some cleansing effect on a Crafter's body."

"And what's that? This cleansing effect? Like remove poison?"

Finn looked at me, mildly surprised. "That, is actually correct. How'd you know?"

"I just threw that out. I had no idea that was what it fixed."

"It actually removes any status effects in the Crafter, excluding Crippled. Poison is included in those effects."

"So, you mean that the hunger effect on gets from rotten flesh can be removed with milk?"

"Exactly."

"Cool." Was all that came out before we were greeted by a villager at the gate.

"Hello! Welcome to Ironhaven! As the name suggests, we are a settlement created due to the presence of an abundant iron ore vein here. Mining began in Year 356, when-"

"I'm not here for your village's history." I said firmly. "My friend's sick, and we need directions to the Lustace, or whatever nearest major settlement there is here. So any help please?"

"As much as we Testificates would love to assist a fellow being, there is a cost to that."

"And what is that cost? Enlighten me."

"15 emeralds."

"Pardon?!" I didn't know how much an emerald was worth in Minecraftia, but according to déjà vu, it was a lot.

' _Now why are you all of a sudden calling Weird Sense déjà vu?'_

'Because it sounds cool and fits what it is; something seen, but not really. So it's taking over.'

' **RIP Weird Sense. Chapter 1-Chapter 20. Don't ask where that came from.'**

'I'll assume it'd be better that I don't.'

"You heard me right sir, 15 emeralds is the cost of assistance from us."

"I dunno how much 15 emeralds is, but I can say that much that we don't have them."

The villager arched an eyebrow. "Ah, so you're new? I see. Maybe you could meet our tribe leader Oswald. He may be able to work out a deal."

I took a breath before turning to Finn.

"Whatcha say?"

Finn said nothing but he grabbed me by the arm and left with a hasty "One moment please."

Once we were out of earshot, Finn whispered with a sort of urgency in his voice, "I have a bad feeling about this. I wouldn't trust Testificates charging that much any day of the week. And neither do I take their _deals_ seriously. I've heard bad things, such as them being forced into this by Griefers, doing these things, either threats or incentives. So I wouldn't trust them too much."

"What's with these Griefers being everywhere?!" I rasped. "If that was the case, everyone would be dead! There's no way this could be true."

"But it is. That's why I want you and me to get to Lustace ASAP. There's no place safe in Minecraftia outside the City walls. Griefers live everywhere."

"But I'm still going ahead with whatever deal this Oswald has up anyways." I spoke a little louder.

Finn's eyes widened. "Are you serious?! I just told you this is a death trap and all you do is go ahead and fall right into it."

"Or-" I countered, "This could be the jackpot we need to get there before this Withering makes all your fears a reality. Don't worry. I'll make it through." I tried to assure him.

"That's what everyone says before an experience which kills them."

"I couldn't come up with something less cheesy."

"Well, I guess I got no choice to tag along, because you won't budge. You're gonna get me in real deep trouble someday Ty. Real deep."

"I know. Trouble's probably my middle name. Just Minecraftia doesn't show it." I said as I moved away from the huddle Finn made a few huts away. I walked back to the villager, cracking my knuckles. I had this in the bag.

"So, what is your name?" I asked the impatient villager whose nose I just realized was large beyond traditional proportions.

"I'd oblige, if you would look me in the eye. Etiquette?" I sprang back immediately.

"Sorry. So, what is your name?" I pulled a shy smile.

"Follow." Was all the villager, or Testificate, as Finn called him, said before turning around and began a steady walk, arms crossed. I followed.

'Apparently Follow is his name I guess.'

' _Okay, what are the odds something's gonna go down terribly?'_ Brain answered, ignoring my statement entirely.

' **Enough that I won't even bother to bet.'**

' _Whoa. Heart's getting the edge I see. I like that. May make me hate you a little less.'_

' **I don't need your opinion. Just that I know something is going to go bad. And no, Ty. Follow isn't his name. Or her name, or their name.'**

' _See? That's why I assume genders. Makes things easier to handle.'_

' **Shut up.'**

A few moments of listening to crunching gravel under my footsteps and my insides arguing led us to a stone structure of sorts. Different from all other buildings here, and having a tower much higher than everything else here. At the top was a banner of some sort, the pattern indescribable. A sort of arc, with an accent above it.

I entered inside, Finn behind me. But he stopped at the door to kiss his fingers and put them to his chest, whispering something. I ignored the act as I walked inside. I immediately felt softness under my feet. Looking down I saw the floor was red in the center, slightly raised above the rest. I continued my following the villager, till the end of the hall. At the end seemed to be seat of sorts, along with a few chairs and a door at the end of some white wood. The villager turned around.

"Have a seat. Oswald shall be with you in a moment."

I did as he said, and Finn followed suit.

I waited for the villager to leave through the door, after which I told Finn, "Told ya. Not so bad is it?"

"We haven't even met him yet. How can you say this is going good?"

"The fact that I haven't been stabbed at yet."

"I'll leave your low expectations to you then. I'll be at the back, praying."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"No one is going anywhere. Stay where you are." A heavy voice was my introduction to Oswald, as he came out of the door, dressed in some black robes. There was no insignia of sorts anywhere, but the robes had a golden lining at the edge of the sleeves. The cuff was dotted with some star shaped buttons around his neck. Above the head, I saw his full name: OswaldOfThyNorth.

' _Long name. Good thing people shortened it.'_

"Greetings, fellow brothers in faith. I am OswaldOfThyNorth, though you may be able to see that already. I am the one in charge of both politics and faith, for this area. It has come to my notice that you may need some assistance in your travels. For that I would say, as my Testificate friend has mentioned previously, have a deal-"

"Get to the point." I blurted my thoughts aloud.

"Tut, tut." Oswald shook his head. "Has no one told you not to interrupt while your elders speak? Shame, shame. As I was speaking, before rudely interrupted; I have a deal for you. You work for me, help me find some veins of iron ore. When I consider your work adequate, I let you go. Win-win."'

"And how do we know what do you take adequate so we don't know you aren't planning to exploit us?" Finn questioned. "I see you are a priest of Notch, but there have been reports of solitary life taking away their sincerity in following in his principles. I don't know how much we can trust you."

Oswald arched his eyebrow. "I see. You yourself no longer believe in the goodness of man, let alone a person like me. So be it. I'll feed your belief. Golems!"

On cue, two behemoths made of metal, came lumbering toward us, with noses similar to the Testificates, and moss of some sort at their shoulders. One was scarred a bit more than the other. Both stood behind Oswald, ready for order.

"Take out the hooded one. Leave the panda to face Notch's wrath." Was what Oswald said before taking out his sword, one made of iron.

' _So what's the plan? Eggshot, or Blink? Fight or flight?'_

' **I honestly prefer the name Hen Grenades.'**

'Can we come to a faster conclusion?!'

I stood panicked and rooted as the golems came closer.

' _We can't take these things on. Flight!'_

I turned around to get a view of the exit as I began to focus for Blink.

And got whacked in the back by at least a ton of iron. I flew into the front wall of the building headfirst, much to my pain.

' _What just… happened?'_

' **I think someone's not feeling good.'**

"Damn, this hurts." I said as run out of the building gripping my burning head, golems in hot pursuit. Needless to say, not the best situation to be in.

* * *

[Finn]

"A shame your friend had to leave. He should've seen what happens to wrongdoers like you. The ones who refuse to believe in what they are told. Those who refuse to follow their Greaters' teachings."

"I doubt people like you even deserve the place you're in right now. Notch would not like someone like you, in charge of a building dedicated to him, become a slaver. Turn new and injured crafters into slaves for your personal gain. I dare say it, you are no better than a Griefer."

Oswald charged at me. "How dare you!" He brought down a heavy cleave, which I just barely deflected with the dagger Ty gave me back in the prison. Sure, it was of little practical use, but it still was better than nothing. Oswald tried a horizontal slash, which I tried to backstep away from, but the edge caught, taking away 3 hearts. I clutched the cut, crouching as he tried another strike. I could only tire him out so long. And the fact that the sickness wore down my stamina didn't help at all. I tried a strike of my own, getting a narrow cut across Oswald's garb, leaving a short tear.

"I don't want to hurt you." I spoke between breaths. "But you're forcing my hand. I know you could be a good person. But a good person wouldn't do something like that."

"Look at him!" Oswald gestured at me, speaking to no one. "Look at him! A fool! A heretic! One who refuses to confide in the men Notch sent down to guide Crafters to the light!" Oswald tightened his grip on the blade. "You are better off gone. And I will gladly help in this."

"You're mad!"

"Oh, I was never mad. I'm one of Notch's warriors, meant to punish the unworthy."

'Oh Lord. Where have I got myself into?' I thought as I crouched over another swing from Oswald, but it hit nonetheless. Another three hearts off. But at least I started to see a steady pattern in his strikes. Horizontal, vertical, horizontal. Heavy strikes. I could come up with a counter, had there not been the problem of range. A short dagger was of little use against a sword, unless thrown. And if I do that, I'm out of weapons. I was in a tricky spot here, and my best bet was getting a decisive hit in, and fast. Or hope for a miracle. Oswald began another strike, and as I predicted, a horizontal. A crouch and an uppercut with my knife knocked him away. I coughed as I breathed heavily. I spat, and black goo came out. Looking at Oswald, all he did was arch an eyebrow.

"Can we… like have a break? The sickness and fighting kinda tuckered me out. So you wanna wait there while I have a breather? Thanks."

"No thank you. You'll have a long permanent one not so later." Oswald answered with a smirk. He began a slow walk toward me, dragging his iron sword. The grinding of metal on stone only made things worse.

 _I could just take him out with a well placed knife throw. He's an easy target. You remember those days of practice right? And this one's better than others._

I adjusted my grip to the bottom of the handle, using my three fingers. I had this one in the bag. As much as I hated this, I couldn't move away from putting him down. He was a threat to me. He was going to kill me in the name of the very being I served. And the only way he would stop would be by shutting him down.

'But then wouldn't that put me in open violation of everything I've done so far? I joined the Way of The Light solely to stop others from shedding blood. Help harmless and new Crafters from monsters like these. I guess in the end, no one is safe. Someone said it right, you either die a hero, or live long enough to become a villain. I guess it's time I became the villain. In order to persist. In order to put this aside and help those who matter more.'

These thoughts rushed through my mind as eye flicked my wrist to deliver what I called my bullseye throw. Had a pretty high lethality chance, from what I've read. I was about to kill for the first time-

And I just couldn't do it.

But my muscle memory had other plans. The dagger flew out of my hands, a speeding black streak which seemed to absorb the light around it. It impaled itself right through his head, through his iron helmet, knocking him down.

For a moment, I stood there poised, Arm half raised, shocked at what happened. All that training in the end; it did its job.

It made me a killer.

* * *

[Tyrone]

What's with my terrible luck, I wonder. Though you could call it a balance out on say, the awesome powers I got. But I had bad luck first, and powers second, so could it be called a balance?

' **We can deal with that philosophical stuff later, get away from the golems! Brain's still out cold from that hit, so I'm taking over for now. Left!'**

I swerve left as I head toward a field with grass as tall as me. Hopefully I could get my tail away from them. When Finn called for a death trap, I thought maybe something as bad as say, maybe Red or Jorji, but not freaking iron giants! I never asked for that. No one asks for that. I quickly glanced at my hunger bar, about five sticks left and I had a handful of rotten flesh. Hopefully I'll be able to wait it out in the grass and bring up my hunger. I slowly neared the grass, the golems still in pursuit.

'We need to get them off of us!'

' **Hen grenade out!'**

An egg materialized in my hand, which I threw at one of the golems. It exploded in much more than just a 'pop', as Jeb said. It was more of grenade like than a shot. The blast disoriented the golems, a thing I took advantage of as I dove into the heart of the grass.

In the middle, I crouched in silence, eating a piece of less gooey rotten flesh. I looked at my hunger. It brought it up to seven, without inflicting the hunger it normally did.

'Hmm. So less gooey flesh is more stomach friendly. Who knew? You learn something everyday after all it seems.'

' **Could you stop rambling while eating?'**

'Can't. Rambling's my second middle name. I'm Turbulent Trouble Rambling Tyrone. TTRT. I like that.'

I continued as I ate another piece of flesh, hopefully also not too gooey like the last. I was in half bite when the grass parted with a loud mechanical roar. And I yelled as I threw another egg in its face, which blew me away as well through the grass, rubbing across the ground.

'Thanks a lot Jeb. You said the pop won't occur until it hits something other than me, but didn't mention the explosions affecting me.'

Looking at my health, the whole thing scraped a heart off of my health to three and a half, which wasn't going to regenerate anytime soon. I looked up to see the golem charging at me, as I scrambled up in a panic. On more hit from them, and I'm toast.

I ran along, chomping on whatever rotten flesh I had remaining, till I ran out, but got the healing started. I could however only get a heart of health back in before it stopped again, with the hunger getting to 8.5 sticks and keeping the sickly green to them, mocking me of my low quality diet.

' **Of course** **you'd choose a point where you're in danger to talk about how colors make your diet look bad.'**

I ran along, again, away from the grass, back toward the village, or so I thought. The area around me was a blur as I tried to outrun the behemoths I couldn't take out.

Or could I?

I took out my wand and blasted them with fire, leaving the golems ablaze and writhing in apparent pain. Who knew that metal was weak to fire? However, moments after the flames stopped spilling out. I tried again, and my wand fizzled.

' **Out of power I guess. Run! Again!'**

I did just that, my hunger now going down to about 4 sticks again. A bit longer, and my speed was out, and so was I. especially with the fact that I got them angrier that I set them on fire.

' **Flowers! Try giving some to them! It should calm them down.'**

'Yeah, right. Like you'd let someone go if you gave them a flower even if they set you on fire.'

' **Do you have alternatives?'**

'Fine!' I hurried over to the handful of poppies present in the field, hastily punching them into my inventory. Just in time for the hunger induced fatigue to take over. Along with the sudden realization I need to stop and take a breath as pains began all over.

The golems closed in on me, arms swinging wildly.

"Wait… wait a minute. Hear me out." I show them my open hand as I was bent over gasping for breath.

"Okay." I continued as I composed myself, as surprisingly the golems had stopped. Apparently they understood English. "I'm honestly sorry for everything that just happened in the past few minutes. I didn't mean to do any harm to you."

Some angry sounding clanking of metal as the golems slowly inched closer.

"I-I can explain!" I panicked as I stepped away a block, hands raised in the air. "It's that I haven't had a good time for the past long time. It's made it hard for me to trust people and I had to resort to force, because I was scared. I wanted to live. I had a right to live, like you do." I pointed to both of them. "But some bad, bad people wanted to take that right from me. I didn't like that. Neither would you, am I right?"

A slightly less hostile clanging of metal.

"So I didn't want to hurt you. Your boss put me in a situation where I panicked and did what I did. But now I see. The truth is you are nowhere as bad I was made to believe. You have care for other lives too. It's just that you're scared too. We're al scared of someone or something. I understand that." I nod repeatedly. "So I have a question. Could we be friends? Stop this fighting and peacefully coexist?" I ask as I hold out one of the poppies I picked up, which immediately droops down.

 _´Wh-what's happening over here…Why in the world are we giving flowers to someone who gave me an acute case of blunt trauma?! Stop it! Stahp it!'_

I kept the flower in my hand, ignoring all the yelling in the back of my head.

No answer from the golems.

"I know that it's hard to suddenly take all this confusion in, but could we please have little a quicker decision? My friend's left behind, he's not feeling good and he's probably having a hard time staying alive while your not so nice boss is trying to kill him because he refused to be a slave. You don't think he's wrong do you? Tell me; wouldn't you want to be free? Not have to listen to one person all the time and listen to yourself, live with your head raised high, not because of who you owe yourself to, but because of your own identity. My friend is fighting for his. And I need your help to help him preserve it. And I'll get it for you as well. I just need your help. So, please?" I shook the flower in my hand.

The golem took the flower.

They actually took the _bloody_ flower.

The stepped back, in another clang of metal.

' _Well, I guess that worked out pretty damn well didn't it? Plus, Achievement Get: Properly talk your way out of a fight. And calm something without a punch or stab.'_

'Effectively the same, but I'll take it. Two's always better than one.'

"C'mon, let's go back. See what Finn's up to. That dagger won't fight long- Oh no."

Immediately I break into a full on sprint, only to be pulled back by the fatigue induced by hunger.

'Guess I'll just walk.'

In a very hurried walk I tried to make my way back to village, trying to keep a short distance between me and the golems despite the truce.

The short amount of time it took to get to the gate showed me how little I had actually gone away. As I entered, I saw some sort of artificial farms, pieces of dirt put together with water inside and whole thing surrounded by logs. I looked behind. I couldn't see the golems.

'I guess a little food gathering is in order.'

With another hasty look around, I quickly struck the field. Punching out whatever crops I could find. The output from the first field was what seemed to be a lot of Wheat, about 10 carrots and 12 potatoes. The rest was seeds, for some reason. I couldn't eat wheat, but I wolfed down all the carrots and potatoes I could get. Mainly carrots. They filled me up faster. With a full bar, my hearts began ticking up again as I charged toward the stone building.

* * *

[Finn]

I had killed.

I had just taken a life. Ended someone's existence. Ended a universe in itself. I had blood on my hands.

I was a killer.

I collapsed in the ground in a sob. I was no longer Finn, no longer was the innocent panda that cracked bad jokes but made everyone laughed anyways. No longer the helpful guide who would help new Crafters and teach them not to harm, not to kill. I was a killer, and now I was no different than all the other people I hated.

I was not just a killer. I was now a Griefer.

In this fit of crying and suffering, I heard something shift. I looked up with my bleary eyes flooded with tears at what it was. Wiping my eyes, I saw that Oswald was getting up, knife embedded in his head. I had to blink twice to make sure.

And he was; slowly and in pain surely, but he was getting up.

"I never died. You clearly never saw a person die isn't it? But what you did was insolence. And insolent never prosper." Oswald spat those words out as he pulled the knife out his head, which had barely gone through it, seemed actually, the helmet did its job. He threw the dagger away, which slid well away from my reach. He came toward me, scar on his head and a smile of malice on his lips, sword loosely hanging. Once he was close enough, all he said was, "I'm going to enjoy this."

Only just that he was blown away by an explosion, thrown into the far wall. I was hit too, knocked away a few feet, but not more than that.

And now who was this? Looking at the door, I found the answer.

Of course. Of course.

Turbulent Trouble Tyrone. And he was posing there in the doorway, like he was some action hero from those plays back in Grosjean. As he looked over at what he did however, he came running.

"So, what happened while I was gone?" Of course. Uncaring of what just happened.

"Bigger question. Who did the explosion?"

"Me." He pointed to himself.

"How'd you do that? You didn't put down any TNT."

"Simple." Like this. He just waved his arm wildly, and an egg flew out of it. Once it hit the wall, it exploded like a blast of TNT, but leaving no structural damage.

"What. The. Nether. Is that?"

"Uhh…" Ty shifted his eyes away. "What happened to Oswald?"

"You just blasted him away with whatever that was. And probably killed him with that."

"No, no no. That can't happen. These are supposed to be non-lethal." He left me hurrying over to Oswald's body. Kneeling down, he began a frantic slapping.

"C'mon, wake up! You shouldn't be dead!"

As I came closer, his eyes fluttered open. "What just happened?"

"Oh good. You're alive." Ty stepped back. "I just cleaned the floor with you. And trial by combat would denote that I've established dominance, and now you have to listen to me."

"And where does that come from, hoodie boy?"

"Combat Etiquette Primer, page 27, After Trial-based Combat."

"Okay. So what do you want?"

Ty immediately turned to me and whispered, "What do we want?"

"Supplies? Food, tools, buckets. Preferably with milk."

Ty repeated my words. "We need supplies. Food. Tools, milk buckets. And you are freeing your iron golems."

Oswald's face took on a shade of red. "Free them?! Are you saying I have kept them like slaves of sorts?! That is madness!"

"Not so much." I said. "Especially when it comes from someone who a few minutes ago was planning to do the same to us."

"So?" Ty looked at Oswald.

"Do I have a choice?"

"According to the Primer, no."

"Gah, fine. Get what stuff you want. Just don't go around taking Testificate stuff. And the golems are free. Happy?"

"Very. Hey! You hear that? You're your own people-er, golems now!"

The door busted open again as two golems came in and knocked Oswald into the air, crashing him onto the ceiling, where he exploded into his possessions.

"Okay, er, so that's what happens when someone dies. And apparently the golems didn't like him." Tyrone remarked.

"On the plus side, it wasn't me who killed him. And when did you read that book? I thought you were running from golems."

"Long story. But long story short, I never read the book. I just bullshitted my way through that. I didn't even know it existed. But it sounded convincing, eh?"

"Yes, yes it did."

"Now c'mon. We gotta get stuff done. And get you a bag. How do they make those anyways?"

* * *

Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Leather Tunic (Dyed Black, Withered Insignia) Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, Head (Danipe) Head (NoMansFriend). 18 Wheat, 11 Potatoes, 5 Carrots, 25 Seeds.

Inventory (Finn): Empty.

Powers: Blink, Hen Grenades.

Fractures Discovered: Tinker's Construct, Thaumcraft, Immersive Engineering.

 **A/N: So yeah. I took Laner's suggestion. I liked the name. And it seems Ty is gonna be knocking lots of people all around. And while he may have one of the worst social skills, he may show skill in less people-like creatures. Anyways, thanks for reading. Have a good day, thank you everyone.**


	21. Chapter 21: Lustace

Chapter 21: Lustace

 **A/N: Karbon here. Dishing anotheer chapter. This little bugger took a longt ime to write, but I think it turned out fine in the end. But i'll stop myself before I tell anything that's important.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft at all, or any mods involved. Otherwise one of them would change up sleep to do more than just skip the night.

Beta: No one, but it wouldn't have reached them anyways.

[Tyrone]

"So, how do you make bags?" I asked.

"I don't know." Finn answered. "But what I do know is that it probably involves leather and some ender stuff."

"What you mean, ender stuff?"

"Ender pearls, eyes of ender, the stuff. Pearls are dropped by Endermen when they die."

"And what are these endermen?"

"Tall, slender, black, purple eyes. Haven't you met one yet?"

"You mean Slapsticks right? Cause they slap you, and they look like sticks."

"Yes and no. They're not called slapsticks. That's a terrible name."

"Okay, fine. Where will we get bags from?"

"I dunno." Finn sighed, before rebounding. "Waiiit."

"Waiting. What is it? Some sort of bag summoning ritual come to mind?"

"Nope. Something better." Finn said with a mischievous smile as he went toward the gear pile left behind by the late Oswald.

"Look at this. I found one for myself." Finn said as he lifted the bag left behind by the deranged man.

"I dunno Finn. It's a good idea, but I don't like the prospect of stealing stuff from dead people."

"Good point you got there." Finn answered dejectedly as he put the bag back down. "It'd be wrong to take away what belonged to him because he died. But he was a bad person."

"So what do we do then?"

"I say, find a leatherworker Testificate? They most likely have a bag available."

"But don't they like, charge an arm and a leg in emeralds? You just saw that dude at the gate, was charging us 15 emeralds for so called help. And you just saw what that help was."

"So what do you say, Mr Cleverpants? I try coming up with an idea and you shut it down immediately! Do you have any clever ideas? Huh?"

"Okay, fine then, do whatever you want!" I threw my hands up into the air. "I dunno what to do!" I was trying not to make a scene as Testificates began to enter the building, filling up whatever space there was. One of them in a purple robe came up to meet us.

"Thank you. Both of you. I am Testificate number 29, and I would like to thank you for removing that tyrant of a ruler. If there is any way we could return the debt, we would be willing to."

"Okay. Jackpot." I turned to Finn. "Apparently everyone hated this guy. Just bothered to say it aloud. And I'd assume you have something you'd want that they can give?"

"I want a bag. Preferably a snazzy one; which didn't involve too much animal slaughter."

"Sure thing. Anything to help you. Testificate 32! Come with a bag for this striking young panda gentleman over here."

"Would this suffice?" A white robed villager came up to Finn, holding out a light blue dyed satchel.

"I'm not one to choose. I'll take it." Finn said.

Finn slung the satchel over his shoulder.

"Stuff, then Lustace?"

"Yep. Get whatever stuff you want, and let's go. Oz gave us carte blanche." I answered.

"That's not how you use it. One, he gave you no actual dominating authority, let alone total. As far as stuff is concerned, you can't take Testificate stuff he said."

"Apart from that it was carte blanche, right?"

"No."

"And you say I shut down ideas." I grumbled as I left to gather more food before leaving.

As I came outside, I for the first time properly took in the village. From this building, which now that I put it together was a church, a path went ahead, which forked in three ways. On the left were a handful of those farms, two of which probably still had stuff growing on them. What was to the right though?

' **Maybe more farms. Maybe ice cream. Testificates. Or maybe giant potatoes which can breathe fire and shoot rainbows out of their eyes.'**

'You were trying too hard there to be random. And you really like potatoes in that.'

' **I know. And I like that. Makes me feel young.'**

' _You came into existence well under a few weeks ago.'_

' **So what? I can feel good if I want.'**

I tuned out as I went down the right path, gravel crunching under my feet and head swiveling around looking at the village. I hadn't seen a village properly, especially without zombies at every corner. It seemed nice, seeing a bit of peaceful civilization in the midst of everything that had happened before. There were these little huts they had, small and some without doors even. Others were much larger, some with their flat roofs and fences on top. There was another farm on the right of the path as I went along, some brown robed villagers working at the farms, pulling out crops, and planting them again.

'Did Finn say something about villagers being able to trade? I remember he saying something about a leatherworker able to give a bag.'

' _Maybe. But you said it yourself they rip you off.'_

'But if they take emeralds for goods, the opposite also must be true. They also should be giving emeralds in exchange for stuff, amiright?'

' _Go ahead. Just don't get into some other crazy business. I still have a headache.'_

'Okay, wait. How can you have a headache when you're inside the head?'

' _Lazy writing. That's how.'_

I went up to the Testificate, who had just finishing harvesting the crops.

"Hello?" I said.

"Greetings Crafter. Would you like to trade?"

"Sure. What you got? Food?"

"Yes indeed. Would you like some pumpkin pie?"

"Sure. How much?"

"Just one emerald. A great deal I'd say."

"Sounds so, heh. But problem is, the number of emeralds I have equals zero. So, any place I could get some from? Or do you trade emeralds for stuff? Like me selling or something?" I made an awkward smile, hoping to get my haphazard thoughts across.

"Pardon me, but I do not follow. Could you please rephrase your statement?"

"Can I sell you stuff for emeralds?"

"Yes, actually. Would you happen to have about 19 potatoes?"

"No? Why would I have that many lying around?"

"Because of their ease of growth and that they can be cooked to produce delicious food. Have you ever tried a baked potato?"

"Not exactly. By the way, what do I do with this?" I asked as I showed the Testificate the wheat I had picked up earlier."

"Oh. That is wheat, though you may have seen that in its own name."

"I can see that much. My question is what does it do."

"What you do with wheat. Make bread."

"Bread. And how do I do that? Crush it into flour and then mix it with water and then put it in a furnace?"

"No, no, actually it is much simpler. Come with me child, I shall show you."

"Fine. Just don't call me child."

"Very well. I am villager number 48 by the way."

"Okay, 48. Speaking of which, why are you all numbered? Don't you have real names like Crafters?"

"That my child, sorry, is a discussion for another day, though you are free to find any information you want in the library. We are heading there as we speak."

"Okay. Nice." I said, for lack of better answer.

We soon reached the library, a building made of stone and wood. Number 48 gestured me to go in, and I complied. Inside, the place had a whole series of bookshelves to the left, with a window next to it. At the edge next to a bench, was a crafting table.

"Nice place." I said, making my way to the bench.

"Indeed." 48 answered as he followed. The library is the pride of the village, after the church that is."

"Church? Like what? People pray there or something?"

48 nodded.

"Cool. What or who do they pray to?"

"Notch."

"Okay…" I answered remembering my previous experiences. "How about we start crafting? Then we can talk a bit more." We went to the crafting table.

"So, first of all, get that wheat out."

"Then?"

"Simple. Put it all in a line. That's that."

I took the bread out, already munching on it to bring up my hunger.

"That was good. Bigger question. If it was simple as that, why did you have to bring me all the way here?"

"So I could thank you for what you've done. You've done in a day what people couldn't do in weeks."

"I don't see how that's a big thing. I'm not special. And there are lots of other people out there who probably would do it faster and better than me."

"But unlike you, they do not care."

"Okay. Nice. You're welcome."

"But that isn't all. There is one more thing we need to ask of you."

"What? That some other settlement needs my help?"

"No, fortunately. Instead it is more of recon sort of thing."

"Recon? I didn't know I'd got myself into the army, hehe?"

To my relief, I managed to get a faint smile on 48's face, though it was very much hidden by the nose.

"Well you are not. It is that, you are not the first to chance by this village and be forced to work to find iron. There-"

"So you're saying that there's someone down there who I need to find. Right?"

"You are not to interrupt when someone is speaking. I would not like to treat you like a child and teach you the basics of conversation."

"Fine. So what is it?"

"Check down in the mines to see if there is some survivor left down there, hopefully alright."

"They're gone. I'm calling it already."

48 looked shocked. "Do not speak like that, child!"

"It's obvious. If they were alright, they would come back up. If they weren't, mobs made them go out. Plus as you said, new people were around this place mainly. Hence there goes hope."

"Are you sure?" 48 said with an arched monobrow.

"Yes I am."

"Okay then. As you think." 48 dejectedly looked down.

' **There actually could be someone down there. Someone waiting. Worried, scared. Waiting for help from someone like us. Are you sure you don't want to be their lifeline?'**

' _Ty explained it already. There's no way someone could live that long down there. Even if they did make it all the way till now, they're probably cool with staying down there now.'_

'If that's what you think. Though it wouldn't hurt to try. We might find something or someone, maybe even another rune.'

"On second thought, I am actually not so sure now."

"That was a rather sudden change of decision." 48 was most faintly amused.

"You could say that, though what I didn't take into account was the possibility of someone having adapted to the place. So I'll go down there, and let you know. Show me the way 48."

"Thank you. And if you can, please try to find Sheo down there."

"I don't know who that is, and I can't make promises. But I'll try. Let's go."

* * *

[Finn]

Tyrone left the church after grumbling about something, much to my relief. Sure, he saved my life a few minutes ago from Oswald and all, but still. There was something obnoxious about him. How he was all what's this, why isn't it like that, it could be that, and all. Not to mention he got us into this whole scenario that just played out. Hopefully though we should be done soon. All that I need to get done is get what tools I need and hope for the best. I exited the church, after performing the farewell, and took in the whole village. From what I could see, there weren't any Crafter made houses here. Only the Testificate made huts and houses, farms, a library and a blacksmith workshop. One thing for sure was that the prime place to check was the blacksmith, followed by the farmers. At least one of them had to have some milk available, or at least a bucket. The faster I got over this illness the better. I took a deep breath of the fresh village air, and coughed again. This time however, no goo came out. Figuring out a path for the blacksmith, I began walking down the path, Testificates passing beside me, immersed in their little businesses. Taking a right from the well, I found myself at the building, with its slab roof and furnaces. I went inside, hoping to find a bucket somewhere inside. If not, a villager who'd probably sell me one. Inside was a small room, with a chest at the end, and a table and chair next to it. Rather simple compared to the places I'd seen back in Grosjean.

"Hello, young man. Is there anything you need assistance in?"

"Yes actually. You happen to have any buckets around here?"

"Unfortunately not. I do not have any buckets to trade for."

"Are there any in that chest over there?"

"I am afraid not."

"Great. *Cough*"

"Is there something wrong?"

I paused for a moment. "Yes actually. Probably obvious, or not, but I'm Withering."

"That is not well at all."

"Of course it isn't. My question is whether you can help me."

"Unfortunately, I am not a doctor, just a blacksmith. So I do not know of any knowledge of illness. What you could do, however, is to find a bucket and get some milk. The butcher has a cow in his yard. Calls it something, I do not remember."

"But you don't have a bucket. So I guess I make my own?"

"I would believe so. I am willing to provide you any assistance."

"How good of tools you can get me?"

"Patience, young man. Haste took no one anywhere."

"I'm waiting. But my illness isn't."

'Tyrone for one would be angry with that one.'

The villager began rummaging in the chest placed at the edge of the room, throwing out materials while muttering. Moments later, he turned to me, holding a few pieces of cobblestone, sticks and a well worn stone sword.

"That is what I can spare for you. Though you are free to go into the mines. While most of the iron is gone, there might be a little left, if one looks hard enough. You might just find enough for the bucket you need."

"Thanks uh-"

"Villager 17."

"17. Thanks."

"You are welcome. Now please, let me show you the mines." 17 said as she showed me the way out.

I exited into the open, the sun setting already.

"It's not too far from here. Just down this path and a left from here."

"Thanks. I'll go ahead from here."

I went ahead, leaving 17 behind. Nearly on cue, my lungs acted up. 17 took a step, but I reassured her with my hand.

"I'm fine. I'll handle myself. Just to the mines, a bit of iron and back. It shouldn't be too bad."

"I hope so too."

I took the path laid out, and found myself soon enough at a gaping hole which yelled MINE, along with a tiny sound of the same from the sign beside. Not literally of course, or I'd be schizophrenic. Which fortunately I'm not. Not sure about Ty though. He talked about something like to talking to his Brain or something. Or was it his liver? *Cough*

'Well, guess I don't have the free time to go for a mono ramble. Down the opening.'

I took my pickaxe in hand; ready to go into the already lit cavern, before making a u-turn.

"Forgot wood. Darnit."

A quick trip back to a tree just outside the village later, I had a sufficient bit of logs to last a short trip down in to the mine.

* * *

[Tyrone]

"This is the place." 48 pointed at the gaping hole into the ground.

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Go down, look around. Find someone, or whatever's left of them and come back. Preferably find Sheo and bring them back up."

"Sure. Anything to take note of?"

"Hopefully not. Except for the mobs. They often come up here at night.

"Alright then 48. I'll see ya when I find something."

"Please do."

And with that, I began my descent into the (fortunately) torch lit cavern-pit.

'So what exactly counts as sufficient to finding someone or any signs down there?'

' _What the task says. Find a crafter, or whatever gives proof of where they are or were. Preferably bring a memoir for dead ones. Not heads though. Heads are gross.'_

'Fine by me.'

' **And please keep your eyes and ears in reality this time.'**

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes as I continued my descent down the natural footholds down. Torches were haphazardly thrown around the place, and I took a few from places which probably didn't matter on the way down.

At the bottom was somewhat colorful mixture of rocks. Reds, grays, whites. I immediately recognized the red as granite, from back in the Way of Light's base, when Finn called me a noob. I took out my now well worn sword as I began to explore the depths, in hope to find something.

Most of it seemed rather simple, looking for something of use. I searched with no pattern, just taking a path and going on it, until it looped back to where I started.

' _That was useful. Do we have any more of that bread lying around?'_

I munched on another loaf as an answer, refilling the hunger brought down from the search.

' _Hurry up. We don't have all day.'_ Brain complained as I restarted my search.

'There has to be something somewhere, right?' Continuing on another random winding path, I heard someone working away at some stone. A bit far away from where I was, but there nonetheless.

"Who's that?" I called out.

A pause, and then the block breaking resumed.

"Hello?"

Grip tightening on my sword, I crept in the direction of the sound. Whoever this was wasn't afraid of me, or they just couldn't hear me. With each step, the sound grew louder. I reached a corner nearest to the breaking, and I revealed myself.

"Oh. So it was you calling out back a few seconds ago." Suffice to say, it was a panda, and not a surprised one. "What are you doing down here?" He asked.

"I got a job from some number 48. Apparently we aren't the first to get threatened by this Oswald." I answered as I sheathed my sword.

"I see. So you're here to see if any is still here? Or anything left of them?"

"Pretty much." I nodded.

"Well good. I did your job for ya. You may wanna show this to him. It seemed to have belonged to someone here. I didn't read it yet, because I was planning to do it once I was done finding the iron I was here for."

"And where did you find that?"

"Those crafters had a tiny base of sorts hidden in a hole in the wall, near the entrance. I thought you'd notice it."

"Well, now you know I have terrible perception. I'll go give this to 48 up there. Come back once you find your iron." I say as I leave him, retracing my steps back up to the surface.

' _So, whatcha think is inside?'_

'Only one way to find out.'

In the torchlight, I opened the book and began to read.

 _Oswald, if you're reading this, then chew on it. I'm not here anymore, slaving away at your little iron finding shenanigan. I've left, under your nose and you didn't notice a thing. I'm in Lustace now, laughing as you yell and scream how your worker escaped under your nose. You'll never find me; you'll never go down the right tunnel. And if you ever bother to tell this to everyone else, like a real leader should, tell 48 Sheo is with me._

'So there's an underground path to Lustace and we don't even know about it. Though considering how it's secret and the cave is well lit, I say Finn may like that. He was all secretive about his path to the end after all.'

' **I say we let him know.'**

'Sure. After we tell 48 about our so called mission report.'

I climbed the rock face out to the surface, greeted by gentle moonlight on my face.

'We should have mobs coming out anytime soon.' I drew my sword again, wand in the other hand. I stood my ground for a moment, ready to strike at anything that came.

Nothing. No footsteps. No groans or bone-clacking.

'What's with that?'

' _Doesn't matter. Though it's probably the lampposts of the village nearby that's negating the mobs. Get to giving 48 his book. And then we go back down.'_

'Good idea.'

I went back to the library, hoping to Find 48 in there. At night, the village had taken on a different look. While it was still bright, there were no Testificates going around. There was none of the hustle bustle seen in the morning. And the silence from that; the feeling that right now, in this very place, it was practically just me, felt amazing and terrifying at the same time. I was alone. Alone in this whole village, bar the inside of the buildings. There was solitude here. And that was calming.

' _Could you not be a poet in the middle of the village and get a job done?'_

'Yes I can.' I answered back.

' _Then do it and prove yourself right.'_

I reached the library and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Is villager 48 here?"

"Yes. I had been waiting for you here for quite a time. Did you find anything?"

"Yep. Found this. Catch." I tossed 48 the book. With some difficulty, he managed to get hold of it, and began to read it through.

"I see. So Sheo is with him. Fortunately in safe hands, thank Notch."

"So, who's him?"

"It would not make a difference. You probably will not find him. Even being one of the smaller cities, Lustace is still big. Big enough that you cannot find someone without knowing them. Plus, it would not matter whether you knew them or not. I am not sending you to find him. He is probably well, as is Sheo. Your job is done, and you may leave. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I said as I left.

' _So, back to Finn, and then an underground trip to Lustace. I like the way it seems. Simple for once, and under control.'_

I nodded to the voice in my head, and walked back down into the mines, munching on a pair of potatoes on the way.

"Hey Finn. You there?" I called out, closer to where he was before. "Finn! Stop ignoring me!"

Getting to where I met him before, I found no Finn, but instead a massive narrow staircase going down into the earth.

'And what is this?'

' _Stairs. What else?'_

I went down the stairs. They weren't here the last time, so Finn must've made them, and he's probably down there. I called Finn out again as I went down the lit staircase.

"What is it?" I finally got an answer as Finn showed up at the bottom of the stairs, not too far off.

"I'm done with my stuff. What about you?"

"Done as well. Wasn't easy, but finally got a hold of a decent chunk of iron. Enough to make a bucket and a sword. Not much, but I'll take it for what the place is. It surely is depleted." Finn half-complained.

"I have a path to get to Lustace. And I think you'll like it. No one's been there before, and we may just be undetected and safe."

Finn's eyes lit up at the statement. "Really? You're starting to learn it seems. Lemme just get some milk fast, and tell me about it. I don't want to go for any obvious Griefer ridden paths, especially since what happened."

"Same here. That's why I found it." I remarked as I let Finn pass, and followed him.

"So, what is exactly this path? Just to be clear, you aren't kidding again are you?" Finn asked as we sat at the table in the butcher's house, a bucket of milk sitting right next Finn.

"No, not this time. It's something I read in that book I had to give to 48, that farmer villager who hangs out in the library a lot. Apparently some dude worked under Oswald, and escaped, making a tunnel under the ground all the way to Lustace. How he pulled that off is above me. That's all I got. I don't know its exact whereabouts and direction. That's where you come in, Nav master."

"Alright. So we have a path so hidden no one except you, me, 48 and the dude who made knows about. I think we have ourselves a jackpot here."

"We do. But I have one question. The time we got hit by Griefers was on a according to you, a safe route. One where no one was there. How do we know this isn't going to play out the same way? Why don't we go for a simple, well travelled route?"

"One, there's no security. Two, Griefers."

"And three, you have an obsession with going through random places which are more dangerous than you make them sound. If they were safe, and secure, why don't people go through them instead? Huh?"

"It's because- forget it."

"But why? There has to be a reason for-"

"Just forget it!" Finn yelled as he slammed the table, drawing the attention of the butcher who was tending to his animals outside. A quick look at Finn's face, and he quickly pulled his head away from the scene. Finn was breathing heavily, and shaking. I quickly backed away. "A-alright. I won't ask." I was trembling as well.

"You better."

I crept away, not taking my eyes off Finn. "Okay. You may wanna finish that, and come back down into the mines once you've cooled down. I'll be waiting, or something."

* * *

[Finn]

He knew nothing of what I had done. He felt nothing of what I had. Of course he wouldn't understand why I choose not to go that path. After all, he just spawned. And I may just be the one he spent the most time with. He didn't know anything about what atrocities happen out in the wilderness, what evils happened here which went unpunished.

He never lost someone on that path.

'Put that thought away Finn. Put it away. You've created enough a scene as you could. You need to calm down. Move forward. It's the only way someone lives here.'

But so soon after-

Griefers. They took what was closest to me. On that very path. And I was helpless to do anything about it. And if I went on that path again-

I couldn't do it.

My thoughts were surging all over my brain, in a rush of noise, memories, nightmares I've had, all coming in as a single arrow, knocking the stuffing out of me.

Knocking the _Finn_ out of me.

I dropped onto the bench, looking left. The bucket was still there. I downed it all in one gulp, and buried my face in my hands as I wept. The milk did nothing at all, to add to the pain.

It wasn't his fault. He didn't know better. After all, he was new, or he said something like that. But he still should've taken the first warning.

Stupid kid.

* * *

"Feeling better now?" Tyrone asked with a slight touch of enthusiasm, ready to get to his destination.

"Just barely." Was my only answer.

"Alright then. But why? Didn't the milk work?"

"No." I said, walking down the path I picked out based on what I could feel, and understand from 48's book. It was a tunnel for sure, and based on experience and what I've studied, a newbie would go for a thin tunnel to conserve pickaxe uses and time. Mostly time. They don't know much about uses. And from my previous trip down here, I think I knew which tunnel he was talking about.

"Follow me." I said, without looking back.

"Sure." was Ty's perked response as his rapid footsteps caught up to me.

Much to my relief, Ty wasn't asking me every single thing this time. He was quiet, and I needed that. I needed time to let those thoughts stew around a bit. It helped a lot when you had settle them down into long term memory and keep them away from popping into your head when you didn't want them. And I needed that. Especially if I needed my A-game. Images of that day danced around in my head.

Travelling on that path.

Griefers.

Threats.

Making the mistake of trying to be hero.

 _Mistake._

 _Hero._

I stopped as I gripped my head, reliving everything.

" _Hey you. You're coming with us."_

" _Give me one reason why we should."_

" _We got blades that hurt and kill. For you and your friends here. And that lady of yours. And if you don't want that to happen, listen to us."_

" _She's here own lady. And you ain't pushing us around anywhere."_

" _I see. Trying to be a hero eh? Well let's see how long you're a hero after this!"_

 _Excruciating pain. Darkness. Screaming._

" _Finn!"_

"Finn!"

Tyrone's voice brought me back to reality.

"You don't seem okay. Everything alright? Need to rest?"

"I'm *cough* fine. Let's keep going. Just had a light headache. Part of the illness."

"Doesn't seem so light."

"It's only going to get worse. Let's move."

We continued on, me hoping for no more episodes. This wasn't helping.

About an hour later, I could see a bit of blue at the end, a bit higher from here, different from the torch light along the tunnel.

"I think we've made it."

"Yes!" Tyrone punched the air. "Finally. Finally!"

He had too much energy in him.

"How come you don't seem so excited Finn? Weren't you all up for coming here too?" Tyrone continued; a concerned look on his face.

I shook off whatever solemn face I had probably made with the whole scenario playing over and over in my head.

"I am excited. It's just that I'm tired. And the sickness isn't helping."

"Don't worry. We'll find something in Lustace for sure."

And he passed me, bouncing his way to the exit.

'Looks like we got no choice.'

* * *

[Tyrone]

We were almost there, finally. Lustace. Getting to this place was hell in itself. It took at least a few days, getting kidnapped, almost sacrificed by a cult, fighting two golems of iron, and now dealing with Finn who doesn't seem too happy since I asked why he doesn't take a normal path. Well, that doesn't matter now. We've finally made it to the end.

 _'Not at all. Can't you see the whole line ahead of you?'_

'Riiight.'

There were at least 10 something crafters ahead of me, going up to some booth and then a room, and then inside the city. Some rigorous verification it seems. No wonder it's safe from Griefers. The line was moving quickly, fortunately. Soon enough, I reached the booth myself.

"Hello sir. How do you do?" Said the attendant, named Robertson.

"Fine. How do I get inside?"

"Do you have your passport?"

"Passport?"

"Spawn initiation book?"

"Spawn what?"

"Initiation book. Eeryone has theirs when they spawn. Don't you have yours?"

"It's... a long story."

"Well, I need to hear that story so I know whether you're safe or not for the people of Lustace. Mister..."

"Tyrone. TurbulentTyrone."

"Turbulent...Tyrone?"

"Yep. Exactly."

Robertson paused for a moment, before his face reverted to the friendliness present when we first met.

"Oh, so it's you. Actually someone's called for you already, so you're clear to go. Just get your items checked from in there." He pointed to the room to his left.

"Thanks Robertson."

Inside was a simple building of gray stone, with a man in uniform of some sort, an iron chestplate like Oswald's, but navy blue leggings. He wore no helmet.

"Hi." I said, waving a hand.

"Show me your bag."

"Sure. For verification right?" I said as I handed it over.

"What's this?" He questioned as he pointed to some insignia on the bag. "This is the sign of The Withered. What is it doing with you?"

"Long story. Long story short, they took my bag, I took theirs."

"Of course." He rolled his eyes as he began searching through my bag. Suddenly his eyes widened, he took a look at what he grabbed, and looked at me with an expression of fear and rage.

"What is this, you monster?!" He yelled at me as he showed me a head inside the bag.

 _'Crap. Should've thrown those out, eh?'_

"I'll have you imprisoned for this!" He said as he dropped my bag and drew his sword.

"No thank you." I answered as I threw a hen grenade at him. He spreadeagled into a button, which triggered an alarm.

 _'Great. Now we're under arrest for murder and assault.'_

All I could do in the end when the whole troop of people came crashing in was put my hands in the air.

What's with this place and me?

* * *

Inventory (Tyrone) : Empty

Inventory (Finn) : Bucket, Iron Sword, Stone Pickaxe (Heavy use) 2 Wooden Logs, 6 Wooden Planks.

 **A/N: So yeah. We reached Lustace, and all of a sudden Ty's convicted of assault and murder. On a more general perspective, I think I did Ok on this one. Sure, maybe a decent chunk of filler to flesh out the place I say, but I balanced it out with a nice bit of Finn's backstory. A bit abstract, but it gives that painful flashback feeling. Like that of suppressed memories. Anyways. Lemme knwo what you think about this chapter below, and i'll see you guys next time.**


	22. Chapter 22: Venenzer

Chapter 22: Venenzer

 **A/N: Karbon here again, with another chapter. Yeah. I dunno what to include in my rambles for the first time. So, I'll just go ahead and start with Cake.**

 **Ari-Dexel and Guest got the references. So yeah. Cakes deserved. *Loads Intercontinental cake launcher* don't worry, they have an accuracy error of about 10 meters, so you may wanna check on your neighbor's roof, just in case. Countdown's going down; you'd probably get it in about T-2 hours.**

 **i_i_i_i_i_i_i_i**

 **(- - - - - - - - -)**

 **|#####|o|#####|**

 **i_i_i_i_i_i_i_i**

 **(- - - - - - - - -)**

 **|#####|o|#####|**

 **So that's done, now review replying.**

 **Laner: I see that the failure of milk intrigues you. All I can say is wait and see. Wait, and see. Though I'll say this much this isn't simple MC Withering.**

 **That said, let's get to the chapter.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or any mods mentioned. Otherwise, Tinker's Construct 2 would have Crossbows and Shurikens and Bows and all the ranged weapons from TiC 1. I'm looking at you, boni. I didn't like it.

Beta: AwakenedKarbon

* * *

[Red]

"You have arrived at Venenzer station. Please disembark at gate 2. Thank you for choosing Eclipse Railroad for your transport needs." I heard from a woman's voice coming from a jukebox, jukeboxes rather, lining the roof of the station.

'Must be a pain, swapping out so many discs every time a train arrives.'

' _Why else do minimum wage jobs exist here? For stuff like this.'_

'As you say. We have bigger fish to fry than debating how easy it is swapping items in blocks to produce a large enough sound for an announcement. Time to go get Ez.'

' _Then what we sitting around here for? Get moving!'_

'No need to yell in my head.' I wince as I begin to move out of the platform and with good measure too. People had begun looking at why I hadn't left yet.

I stepped away from the platform as I was greeted by the massive sprawl of a city that Venenzer was. I had been here several times before anyways, but there was some sort of feeling of development, an emergence, just; there was something in the air that made one optimistic. And that's what it feels like to a new person here. All the wires everywhere, electricity surging. The buildings were even more impressive, touching the sky, or so I've heard. So high people can't even build above the top. A mixture of all sorts of creations, some offices and store houses for the massive Corps like Troughoff, or WBYS. Or just a straight old massive apartment building. Though they're far from old.

I walked on in the station, one which they kept open to the sky.

'I'm not an architect by any means, but I'll say that's a good thing they did. Get to see this amazing city skyline right off the bat.'

"Sir? Could you please come here?"

I turned in the direction of the voice. It was a young man, with a bowl cut. I walked over to his counter.

"I don't want to take too much time, but could you please just show me your passport? It's just that there's been an increase in suspicious activity in Venenzer and we don't want any shady sort of people around here."

"Trust me. I'm not shady. I wouldn't take a legitimate way here then. But I'll say, you're better off not looking at my passport."

"O-okay. But it's that there are orders from higher ups."

"Relax. No one's gonna know. No one will know I was here."

"But-"

I assured him with a pat on his shoulder. "I told you. No one's gonna know. And if they do, well, they won't care. Especially in my case." I left the counter, Heading out of the station, leaving the bowl cut confused.

' **And what did we get put of this?'**

'The satisfaction that we confused a guy on his possible first day on the job.'

' **Nothing then. At least, nothing useful.'**

I exited the station to enter Venenzer proper, taking off the Triad mask. Having the wind on my face was refreshing, not to mention RedRinger was a lot less intimidating and scary here than a Triad, not to mention there's enough people here to blend in, just in case. A mask stands out.

Immediately outside the station were more people; inn workers sent there to call the travelers in, others waiting for a friend or close one to come out of the station. Of course, this was not for me. No one I knew knew I was here, technically.

I went on with a calm stride, toward the Armor district. Though fortunately it had more than just armor to it. I passed along the major Troughoff building in the city, with people streaming in and out of the place.

' **This could be just me, but don't turn back. I have a feeling someone's following us.'**

'Lies. No one here knows me personally, and there are so many more people here. It could simply be someone who's just happened to be behind us.'

' **If you insist. I'll let you know if you're wrong.'**

'Be my guest.' I taunted.

I walked away from the building and the sound of grinding ores inside, and went along my way again, buildings now shortening in height.

' **You're wrong. Don't believe me? Fake a turn around, drop something. Pick it up, turn around. Something's not right.'**

'I'll play along with your idea. Once.'

I dropped a bolt, and stopped still, acting like I just noticed I dropped it. I turned around, trying to pick up the said bolt, when I saw something, _someone,_ dart into an alley between two buildings.

' **Toldya.'**

I wasted no time in picking up the bolt and heading right after whatever it was.

"Get over here!" I yelled as I ran into the alley, only to see the figure escape by the roof. My eyes scanned the walls to see how that was possible.

'Ladder!'

Thanking how often people kept fire exits all the way down to the bottom, I climbed the ladder and began to follow in hot pursuit. Sprinting on the brickwork, I was struggling to keep whoever this was in my sights.

' _Maybe a little boost could be useful?'_

I let the mechanism in the sword unfold itself, and with a tense arm, launched myself at break neck speed, flying well over a rooftop. They were not going to get away. Not until I know what they were doing, following me.

"Stop, I tell you. Stop!"

But there was no stop. I was getting closer though, and the hair, tied in a ponytail, seemed surprisingly familiar-

"Nope. Not possible. No way could she be here. Impossible."

But I kept on running. There was always the possibility. I charged again, getting closer, yet farther at the same time. Was she using a swiftness potion?

Another charge. Even closer. Just a pair of roofs away. If I could just get over this sloped one-

There was no one.

' _Lost 'em. Time to head back where we were headed. Though I think our little chase put us right on his roof, if I'm correct.'_

I went to the edge of the roof, and looked down, craning my neck to get a view of the sign Ez had above his shop. And it was there. The redstone lamps and all. Though I should've noticed that from all the daylight sensors he had put up on the roof. I jumped down from the short double storey building, taking 3 hearts of damage.

' **Why'd you do that?'**

'Easier and the fact that it'll heal up soon anyways.'

I entered the workshop, finding myself treated to a sight of technology of all sorts. Mainly weapon technology though. Swords of multiple makes lined the walls in item racks, all of them custom made. Behind the counter were his crafted more distant engagement tools, bows and the like.

"EzekielAmbrose at your service how may I help-" Ez said came out of the back room he had as his place for crafting.

"It's me."

"Oh, Red. Long time no see. How's stuff been going?" He came up to me.

"The way it's always been. Going after people and all, but there's some fun stuff in between. Take a look at this."

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Aye. Shadow Triad mask. Put it on, others can't see your name."

"It feels a bit stuffy inside, but I like the concept of what you told me. A whole new level of anonymity. People are gonna love this."

"Oh, and I also watched that play over when I was at Grosjean. Did it come over here yet? I wouldn't mind watching it again."

"Came and left already just yesterday."

"Did you happen to watch it?"

"Yep. Thought I'd treat myself after you'd paid me for that upgrade you had me make for Reason."

"Which one again?"

"You forgot already? It's right in the back with your name written all over it." Ez pointed behind the counter as he took off the mask. "Third chest from the left. Can't miss it unless you're blind. Which you're hopefully not."

I went behind the counter, and found said chest. Inside was a small magazine of sorts, or something, because it was covered in name tags saying 'RedRinger'.

"What sort of joke is this Ez?" I asked with a faint smile I felt forming on my face.

"No joke. I was just speaking the truth when I said it _had your name all over it_."

The faint smile turned in to a grin, and then a little laugh.

"That was a good one, wasn't it?"

I nodded, smile still there. "Yes, yes it was."

It surely did feel good to laugh with the people you could call friends once in a while.

"That aside, how do I put this in here?"

"Depends how you want it. Preferably have it put together in an Engineer Workbench, which I got right over there, but if you need it in an emergency, show me your gun."

I handed him Reason and the magazine from which I removed the name tags, and he just simply clicked it into the side of the cylinder and loaded it with some bullets. He took aim at a target he had on the wall, and fired.

"Simple as that."

"Then why would one even bother to use the workbench?"

"I've seen people go to the infirmary with the magazine entirely having been blown into their face. Mainly new guards and aristocracy who don't take the time to get it fixed in. All of them were because of just not using the proper tools."

"Fine. Engineer through this and whatever, and then I've got one more thing to ask you of, once you're done with this. That I actually came for."

"What d'ya mean? You didn't come for your friend here? This young lad who doesn't have anyone to call special except you."

"You better not mean it the way I feel you're taking it."

"That depends on the public."

"So, I'll put that… aside… what I actually came for was to get a crossbow, or rather crossbows modified." I showed him the bronze and alumite crossbows I had taken from the Shadow Triad members.

"You think you could up the whole thing? Make it more of a Red and Ez-like thing? A bit of auto-crossbow?"

Ez had a short stare at what he had been given, and looked back at me. "Sure. Why the Nether not? But I need something from you as well."

"Emeralds? I'll bring them this time. Ready for an upfront payment."

"I don't need the emeralds. It's something else."

"Something else…?"

"I need you to eliminate someone for me."

"Who is it?" I asked, half confused. Who would Ez have beef with?

"Just got a run in with a mafia. New dudes. Shouldn't be too hard for you to handle. Their boss is hosting a party today. Perfect opportunity."

"But why would you just go ahead and kill him?"

"One, he's pretty much being a problem to business, and two, since when have you started asking these questions about whether killing the man is justified or not? Are you getting soft?"

"No. Not at all. What makes you think so, eh?" I darted my eyes around.

"Then why would you ask for whom and why are you after?"

"Because knowledge. And the fact that I could probably get some leverage out of him. And while you're at it, how about you up that mask of mine a bit. Make it look more Red- Who's there?!" I looked to the walls, as the room fell silent except for the faint ticking of the clock.

"There's no one. There's no need to show that you have those instincts to anyone, let alone me."

"But someone was there. Someone was listening to us."

"Horsecraft. There's nothing worth snooping in on. As for your mask, gimme a minute. You go scout around if you want."

"Nah, I'll just stay here. After all, it's just a minute."

* * *

"You said this was just gonna take a minute."

"Well it was a really big minute let's say."

"Pretty damn big. Big enough for me to get out of the city; get some emeralds, some TNT and even go ahead and buy some steak and I'm still waiting."

"Okay so, wait why did you get TNT? There's no point in taking that with you."

"What'dya mean? There's always a reason to take TNT anywhere."

"You're supposed to be going for infiltration. Not an outright explosion demolition mission."

"So? You can always use TNT for a getaway or something."

Ez kept on tinkering with the face of the mask, not willing to show it to me.

"But you went outside. Why didn't you just go ahead and scout the place, look for that alleged spy?"

"One, I've been in this place long enough to know it all, and two, there's no way they would stick around. Especially if it's who I think it is."

"And who is it?"

"Never mind."

"Fine. There. Got it done. Took me a bit, rather a lot of time to come up with a good design, but I settled on this one. Reminds me of that one time I met Death in a dream."

"You sure you didn't have one too many that time? After all, who sees Death in their dreams?"

"Nope."

"What do you mean nope?"

"I was perfectly fine. And that was simply a metaphor."

"Metaphor?"

"Sorry, wrong term. Meant a made up thing. I never actually met Death in a dream. But I did meet someone who claimed to be death, and the mask looked like this."

He showed me the mask, and it seemed believable that well, it looked like death would wear it. It was divided into two parts, but connected by a piece of woolen cloth in between. There were lenses for eyes, and at the mouth piece were several wires snaking around there, looking like teeth. Holding it in my hands, it sure had weight to it. A light knick to one of the face plated confirmed my theory. Yep. It's got some real good armor on it. Good upgrade.

"This was one of those times when I wish you were a Thaumaturge. I'd probably throw on a pair of Revealing Goggles."

"I'm sure I don't need them anyways. I don't bother with magic."

"More power to you then. Go get em lad."

"On it." I took the mask, and put it on, my vision taking on a red tint before going normal again. "Let's do this."

I exited the workshop as a different face, ready for an assassination. Just like any other day. The sun had set, and the artificial lights had turned on, deterring both mob spawns and for some, sleep. Venenzer, the city which never sleeps. Though it's not the only one. Thought technically people sleep here too-

 _´Stop it. This rambling of yours won't get anyone anywhere.'_

'Right. Right down the road, and to the left. Party lights are gonna be a dead giveaway. Target name was what again?'

' _Tater25. I have no idea what's with the crazy names these days. Used to be simpler back then.'_

Intentionally exhaling to psyche myself up, I went down the determined path to find this target of ours.

Didn't take me long, needless to say. The newly built mansion was right there, people streaming in there, luckily in masks. Some sort of costume party? Feels a bit too convenient. I got in line as well, blending in. Slowly but surely in got to end, bouncer right there in a heavy suit of iron.

"Invitation." He stated.

"What? What sort of invitation? I wasn't told to bring any invitation."

"Because you don't belong here. Get out!"

My eyes widened behind the mask. I did not come here for a fight which could expose me here and now.

"Alright." I said as I walked away.

'Some other approach?'

' _Explosive.'_

'You read my- never mind.'

Sneaking across the queue, I hid myself in the side of the building, currently unnoticed. Not for long though. I broke off a piece of wood from a house on the way, and a little bit of Redstone from some other place, mash em together and a Redstone torch. I put down a bit of TNT next to a corner of the mansion, and drew the torch I just made.

"I have a torch, I have TNT-" I struck the explosive with it as I dove away.

"Ungh!"

Boom.

"Explosion!"

It was enough to draw the bouncer's attention, as he rushed from his position to get to the source of it. But he failed to discount the things that lurk in the dark which isn't lit by lamps.

"Hush, not so little bouncer." I whispered as I grabbed him and shot a knife into his neck. He was gasping for breath, and I lay him down gently in the dark. He was gonna bite the dust soon solely by asphyxiation and blood loss. Or I could do this faster.

A subdued groan could be heard from the distant alley as my Cobalt blade cut through him. No need to leave a witness behind.

"One less bouncer to worry about." I whispered to myself as I left the shadows to walk into the place like nothing happened at all.

' _Such a gentleman, are you.'_

Inside was what you'd expect of a party from someone who just struck gold. The house itself looked like it had no expense spared, with chandeliers hanging from pretty much every bit of ceiling there was, and the staircases were made of pure quartz. Along the stairway were paintings which I guessed were really expensive. In the middle of the hall which I had entered was a table nearly end to end, where feasts of all sorts were there; (Cobb)lers, pastries, stews, exotic breads, and pretty much anything you could dream of, and in the middle was a fountain nearly over flowing with Thick. All I did was sneak in a bit of the breads, I didn't have the time and opportunity to take my mask off and eat it. And of course, there were people. Lots of them. All of them with masks, but their names were showing, albeit very faintly, borderline invisible, but not to a trained eye. Though my mask didn't give me that trained eye I normally have unmasked. The lenses and wires and everything. One person who was standing right behind me back in that line came up to me and patted me on the shoulder.

"I thought you didn't have an invitation. How'd you get in?" The mask was of a pure white hue, looking like a quartz bust of someone in pain.

' _We don't have time to ramble, come up with something to say!'_

"Oh. It's that that was a little joke between me and Tater. We're good friends, but haven't met in a long time. So I happened to be here and talk to the bouncer before now. Said that you first send me away, tell Tater, and then when he's like, where am I, I just pop up, we celebrate, and have a Mundane together. Happily ever after."

"Oh. Okay. Good luck with your little meetup then."

"Thank you. Speaking of which, have you seen him?"

"I saw him up top, on the first floor, where he planning to give some sort of announcement."

"Thank you again- er, sorry it's that it's hard to see you name in this mask. Just got it made today in hurry, and it's not easy to see in it."

"Jessamine."

"Thank you Miss Jessamine." I thanked her as I went up the stairs.

" said that the upper floor is off limits."

"Don't worry. I'm a friend. He'll loosen up when it comes to me." I said as I left, going up the stairs. I needed to take the mask off. While it was good and all, I'm gonna have a hard time finding Tater with it, especially if he's also wearing a mask. And that it was getting stuffy in here. Taking it off, I could see things better. Much better. Now for some people hunting. As for my identity, a good sneak was enough, at least while hiding behind the railing at the top, and that almost no one I was up here. So where was this Tater? Creeping along the rails, I found myself at a large doorway, from which I could hear people talking. Could this be the place? There was a small opening up at the top of the hall for ventilation, which most likely led to everywhere else in this floor. Perfect. I sprung my cobalt blade back into action, aiming for a launch right for the hole in the wall.

' **Not likely. You're not high enough.'**

I placed down the two planks I had left behind from the log I broke before.

'This seems more like it.'

Putting all of my focus into it, I sprung into the air, hoping to get in. And barely missed it, saved only by a reflex grab onto the ledge.

"What was that? Someone there?" Someone called out from inside the door.

"Cluck cluck. Moo!" I answered.

"Oh. Just some cows and chickens. Wait. Why the Nether are there domestic animals in here? Guards! Kill them!"

'That was totally worth it.' I climbed through the hole, onto a beam of dark wood. Crouching to keep my balance, I snaked over to the other room. He was there alright. Tater25. In a sort of aristocrat getup, complete with tailcoat, just bursting at the seams from his round figure. I donned my mask once again, and dropped down behind a bookshelf. No one saw me, mainly because all the guards were out looking for a chicken. This might not be so hard after all. I checked Knifeshot. Loaded. Reason, loaded. Skills; loaded.

'Let's do this shit.'

' **I fail to see the need of profanity here, but I won't complain.'**

I kicked down the bookshelf while saluting the potato man.

"Hello, young man."

"Who- who are you?" He crept away, clearly scared. The mask was working alright.

"I'm Death. Just decided to drop by and say hi at your last party."

"Guards! Bakkar! Zokaar!"

"Are those names?"

"Y-yes?"

"If one of them is that bouncer dude outside, he ain't coming. Just to let you know." My sword hung loosely to my side, Reason at the other.

He kept on creeping back, until he reached a wall. "Please. Please let me go. I'm too young and handsome to die."

"Young, maybe. Handsome, not at all. Though I like your coat. Mind if I take it?"

"N-no. I'm not wearing anything under."

"Very well then. Not-so-goodbye." I aimed Reason, and prepared to pull the trigger.

*Flick. Ka-chunk.* Tater flicked a lever.

And all of a sudden an iron golem and a snow golem assembled themselves right next to my face.

"Death, meet Bakkar and Zokaar."

"You couldn't come up with better names could you?"

"No one ever lived to complain."

With that, a block of stone brick came flying at me, courtesy of Iron. It hit me in the mask, only for a snowball to follow up. I spread all over my masked face.

"You realize I don't have time for this. I have other people whose time's coming up." I said as I wiped the snow off and just simply shot the snowman dead.

"And that's why you should leave! Let me live on!"

I dodged a strike of the iron golem, and unloaded the entire remaining cylinder into the iron golem.

"You know, in the plays, you're supposed to be the bad guy. And that means you probably have more baddies to back you up, just about, now." The door opened as several guards breached the door, arrows flying towards me. I rolled to the side, firing two shots to drop the archers, before rushing in with my blade. I finished the first archer with a slash across the chest.

The next, stabbed in the neck.

The third guard, knife to the head. I immediately pulled it out to parry a strike coming from the fourth, a swordsperson, who then got two stab wounds to the gut.

The last, I tripped him and cut him across the neck decisively. Their bodies lay on the ground now, crippled, immobilized, but not dead. I placed a piece of TNT, much to the guards' horror. And to add to it, I ran the Redstone torch across it, priming the TNT. I walked toward Tater.

"So, where was I? Right. According to the plays I watched, your guards come in, but I kill them all without much effort. And a witty one-liner. And now comes the end where I just finish you and be done with all this." I flick the blade in the air, cleaning off the blood as the TNT exploded.

"And I forgot. There are lots of explosions involved as well."

Downstairs, I could already hear people panic from the explosions above.

"It was nice killing your half-friends Tater. But before I finish this, do you have any idea why someone would want you to die?"

"That I would steal-"

"Steal what?!" I grabbed him by the collar of his coat and shook him. "Tell me!"

No answer.

"Very well then." I brought the blade close to his neck.

Just as an arrow flied close, cleanly knocking off my mask and knocking it off to the side. I let Tater go as I went to inspect what happened, and I was not happy.

Alumite arrowhead. Simple wood shaft. Slime Fletching.

I braced myself for who I think it was as I picked up my mask and put it back on.

"Trying to crash another party, lad?"

"Shite. At the moment I least wanted her to pop up."

"I heard that."

I turned around, and rolled to the side as I avoided a volley of three arrows. I looked up. And saw the mask.

"Jessamine? What are you doing? Wait, no this can't-"

"Not Jessamine. Artemis." She answered as she took off the white mask to show her face. It was her alright. Light brown eyes, black hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Time we finally ended this, don't you think?"

"Actually I do. That's why I don't go after you anymore. And can't you see? I'm a bit… busy here. Care to 1v1 some other time? Maybe over a cup of coffee or something? Cause I've moved ahead from there. Even if everyone else hasn't. So, another time?" I asked with an awkward smile.

"Nope." Artemis answered without a trace of warmth.

"Right after I'm done with this guy?"

"Nope."

"How about putting that bow down and not aiming three arrows at me?"

"Nope." With that, she fired off another volley from her bow. I rolled to the side, but not enough to dodge all the arrows, as one found its way into the shoulder of my coat. 2.5 hearts. Not bad at all. I quickly yanked the arrow out as I fired a shot. It pinged off of the wall, breaking off some of the expensive quartz. I got up, and used my sword to throw myself into melee range. I swung my sword, trying to get the decisive hit that could buy me the time I needed.

Only to be parried by Artemis' glowing iron sword.

"I see. You finally decided to handle melee combat." I commented as we locked blades. "In fact, if you weren't hell-bent on killing me, I may as well have made you a pupil of mine."

"Like Nether you would. And like Nether I would accept." She kicked me in the gut, pushing me away.

' _Why do I feel that's a recurring theme here?'_

'One. This is not the time. And two. Wrong timeline.'

I clutched my abdomen as Artemis came in for the kill with a stab.

With a swift motion of my sword, I redirected the point, and disarmed Artemis of her weapon.

"Nice sword by the way. What'd you get this enchanted with?"

I was answered with the breaking of glass as Tater made a run for it. He used some sort of hook thing to latch on to a nearby wire as he escaped. I fired off another round, trying to get a hit, but wasn't so lucky. Turning back, I found myself facing Artemis again, but separated with a pair of arrows and slime based Ven-made shortbow.

"Checkmate. Any last words?"

I was losing time. And a target. Again. How to get away-?

' _The way we came in.'_

"Well, my last words are that, well, first of all, I'm sorry for what I did."

"You're what? Preposterous."

"What do you mean?" I spread my arms out, just enough to place a block of TNT behind me. "I am honestly regretful of what I've done. I know that what I did was wrong, but I was hard pressed."

Artemis' expression changed to a slightly bemused one, but the arrows didn't waver. "Of course not. There's no such thing as a contract killer with a conscience."

"Oh, but then you don't know me. I'm a first." I stalled as I tried to sneak the torch I had out of my bag.

"And you mean?" The questions continued.

"I mean that just because it looked like that doesn't mean I do it solely for personal gain. I was forced. By some bad people."

The bowstring loosened a bit. "Care to explain?"

"You see, it was something like this. I've had some bad experiences with the now defunct Endward Cult and their not so successive successor the Withering. They had forced me into some real bad situations. I lost friends and family to these monsters of Crafters. In fact, I might hate them more than you."

"You're stalling." The bowstring tightened again.

"Yes I am actually." I said as I drew the Redstone torch from my bag. "Very good observation. As for the story, it's rather true. So if you need an incentive to stop killing me, the need to know rest of it is enough for ya." I triggered the TNT.

"Adios." I charged my way out of the house, breaking the glass. As I rolled over the rooftop, I tried to see how far could have Tater gone. Then I remembered the wire.

' **Thataway.'**

As I followed the path of the wire, I could hear an explosion and some profanity.

' _Congratulations. You just angered another woman.'_

'That doesn't count.'

I raced across, jumping from roof to roof, trying to find the potato man. The initial path ended here. Where could he have gone from there?

' _Fat guy, running down that road. That way.'_

' **Not nice Brain.'**

' _Well, neither is killing.'_

I leapt rooftops until I came close enough to him. Once I was close enough, I jumped off, tackling him amongst a group of people, who immediately dispersed.

"Sorry. It's just that this gut stole my fish. Move along. You have jobs and stuff to deal with right?"

People shrugged, and moved along. I shoved Tater back into an alley.

"I know who you- mmph!"

"Shut up. Answer my question, and I might just let you walk away alive. Stress on might. Why would someone by the name EzekielAmbrose want you dead?" I asked as I cautiously removed my hand from his mouth. He was trembling.

"So?" I probed.

"Weapons." was all that came out his mouth.

"What do you mean, weapons?"

"I had my men intercept imported parts, and use them to build our weapons to sell. It was easy money. I didn't know it was this big of a problem. I swear to Notch."

"So you thought it was a good money, steal from someone for your own personal gain? And it wasn't even a Corp shipment. You chose to go for an independent person, thinking there won't be any consequences. Well. You're wrong. But a deal's a deal. I took out Reason, and emptied its cylinder of all casings. Then, I put in a single bullet and spun the cylinder.

"I'll go first." I put the barrel right next to my head, and pressed the trigger.

*Click* *Ka-Chunk*

"Fate is on my side it seems. Now. Time for you." I put Reason right in front of his nose, and fired.

And I had not expected the results I got.

He was set on fire, and thrown into the back of the wall, before he ran out into the streets. Just that within moments, he burnt to his demise in public.

' _Not the most fine, but I'll take it. Let's head back.'_

* * *

"I'm back."

"Oh. So how'd the whole thing go? It took a pretty decent amount of time for ya."

"Long story."

"Well I have the time to listen to your stories, especially as how this crossbow might take me the whole night to get right. Oh. And some dude named Robertson called. Was saying something about having you talk to him. Caught someone. How he got my number on the Hotlink has me confused."

"Government operative. Not in the secretive way. Just a simple check post guy."

I picked up the phone and dialed up Rob's number.

"So?"

"Uhh, who is this?" A familiar but professionally unprofessional voice answered.

"It's Romeo Echo Delta."

"I don't follow. Is this some sort of prank?"

"No. But you don't have a sense of humor. It's Red. Just trying to name myself in a more military way. This being rather secret between us. Not to mention if someone's found a secret fracture on how to trace a Link, well, I don't want them to flip over and curl into a ball from my name." I heard Ez groan as he rolled his eyes. Ignoring him, I continued. "So. What's happened?"

"We got Tyrone. Right at the checkpoint. He's been arrested for apparent murder of two Crafters, and just something I thought I'd point out. He happened to have a bag with the Withering insignia, from what I could get."

"I'm heading over."

"You may want to hurry. Based on from what I know, his crimes are enough to give him death by archer squad as soon as he's proven guilty in the trial tomorrow."

"Oh no. He ain't dying to some stupid as Neth-"

"Language please?"

"As an unsavory dimension government punishment. Especially now. This sh- stuff just got personal."

I slammed the receiver down.

"So what happened? And what just got personal? Some bounty or what?" Ez asked.  
I held my mask in both hands. "This is more than just a bounty. This is more than just a stupid fetching job Herobrine gave me. This is revenge for what happened a year ago. Cold, bloody, revenge." I looked down at the mask.

"Let's do this, Amigo."

"Wait. Did you just name your mask?"

"Yes? Whatcha gonna do about it?" I put it on. "Helps with emotional attachment to my stuff. And that helps a lot I tell you."

I left the workshop, dashing into the night to the station. Tyrone was not going to get away with what he's done.

Inventory: (Tyrone): Empty.

Inventory (Red): Has now been _Red_ acted in order to make Red more unpredictable like he should be.

 **A/N: Another biweekly chapter comes to an end, another one solely dedicated to Red. Put a bit more into his story, a bit more into what other stuff goes around in cities, something called Corps, which will play a pretty important role over time, and more to Red's overall character, which is funny how he began to be something like Carys. And now he's much more. I feel I did fine with it, but you guys are the better judges. Also, this marks the end of a transitional sub-arc, as I would call it, cause it's too small to be an arc and, you probably got it. And again. Thank you everyone for being with me this far, and I'll see you on the 15** **th** **. Till then, feel free to ponder over some little unspoken questions that I left in the chapter. And read some of the other stories that are around a similar theme and world.**

 **Of Blocks and Mobs by Crafted Reality**

 **Swords and Spells by SansThePunnist.**

 **Karbon Out.**


	23. Chapter 23: Bound

Chapter 23: Bound

 **A/N: Alright! Karbon here! Back again. With really short sentences. This one is a little bit later than usual, I know, it's that situations surrounding it weren't the most conductive to writing. On another end though, THERE IS NOW SOMETHING CALLED THE OUR CRAFT COMMUNITY! *Cough* Sorry. Got a bit too excited there. Well, in a nutshell, the community is a group of stories here on the MC universe, primarily in the one which is My Craft. There are a few others too, some which I mentioned last time too. So if you're interested to read something similar to Factions or My Craft during the downtime, here's a link to the Community.**

 **www fanfiction net/community/Our-Craft/125994/3/0/1/**

Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or any or any of the related mods. Otherwise, I probably would tweak the new combat a bit more. Something along the lines of maybe adding the ability to shield bash or add daggers to use as offhand weapons. Rest is okay. *Braces for Potentially Angry Reviews*

* * *

[Tyrone]

I sat in the dark dank cell. Properly alone for the first time since spawn.

' _Someone keeps forgetting us.'_

'Not including aware parts of my subconscious which make me look borderline schizophrenic.'

' **Not nice.'**

'I don't care, for all that happened.'

They had taken me in for some sort of allegation of my association with the Withered who these people really seemed to hate. Not surprising based on what almost happened to me, and it doesn't help that I didn't bother to take out those heads I had in that bag.

' _Should've though twice before picking it up then.'_

"Who the HELL of you organs knew this was going to get me into this crap!" I made the mistake of speaking my rage aloud, drawing the attention of one of the guards who was in charge of my cell. He banged at the door.

"What's your problem?"

"Simple. I have been arrested for something I haven't done."

"That's what they all say. Though it's a lot less believable when you're the following-" He withdrew a book from his bag. "Association with terrorist faction The Withered, potential murder of two Federation citizens NoMansFriend and Danipe, and bypassing the border check post without showing any proper papers and records. Quite the list you have here. Much bigger and different than what normally happens here. Mostly I deal with petty thievery and drunken brawls. It's been a long time since we had a situation like yours. Random question. Do you know your number?"

"Number? What do you mean number? All I know is that my name is TurbulentTyrone, and I didn't even know that until someone told me the next day."

"You're new blood then. Easy for them to use you."

"You're not making any sense."

"No. It's just that I don't talk with criminals."

"What are you doing right now then?" I mocked.

"Shut up." He answered as he turned away.

"Do you people like, give food to your prisoners or something?" I asked as I checked my hunger. It was down to 5, and I was feeling the hunger.

No answer.

I tapped at the cell door. "Hello? I know you hate talking to people like me and all, but I asked a question. And a valid one at that. Do you give your prisoners something to eat? Or do you just let them stay in their cells and starve to death. Though I wouldn't be surprised, considering the sort of evil monsters you are."

He turned around and hit the door hard, enough to bring a crack into it, which disappeared.

"You deserve to be here, don't you realize that? Calling the upholders of law, paragons of justice, evil, and imbeciles? You deserve to be in jail solely for this."

' **So much for free speech it seems.'**

"You still didn't answer my question. And I didn't call you whatever you said at the end."

"How much does it matter? This evening you have your trial, and once that's done, death by archer squad for you. You'll live without eating for that long."

"How do you know I'll lose the trial?"

"Evidence is stacked against you."

"But what about bullshitting?"

' _Congratulations. You just exposed our trump card, and now we're in deep shit. Even if we speak the truth, well, they ain't gonna buy it.'_

"It's not going to work. There's no way you'll convince them. Not to mention only one person tried and succeeded ever, to save his client. And he died within the next fortnight. So I'll just leave you to your own devices, which you don't have, and enjoy seeing scum like you fall to the floor. See you in the morning. Or earlier."

The guard left, leaving me alone once more.

' _You really seem to not like it when you're alone.'_

'What? I'm still a new dude around here, and I need to learn about this world. I don't have access to a library, so people are the next best bet.'

' **Next?'**

'Books are less likely to lie to you. Nor do they try to attack you.'

"Someone seems frustrated." A hushed voice emanated from somewhere.

"Who's there? I'm armed, stay away." I answered in a voice just above a whisper.

"You cannot fool me. I know you have nothing to defend yourself, save your powers."

"Who are you? How do you know about them?"

Small globules of light gathered around from places, coming together as a small blue sphere. And the sphere spoke, or so it felt.

"It's a shame, the situation that you've been in. First, you begin in an unknown world, with but the most rudimentary assistance, and try to make it through a hostile world. From there, you immediately have yourself thrown into something larger than you could ever be. Once that purpose is stripped, you try to take it back. Through pain and hardship, you finally reach the place you've wanted to reach."

"Yes? And now I'm here. What are you yapping on about- OW!" I felt like a hot iron had stabbed me through the head.

"Silence. You do not speak unless told to. Now, where was I? Yes. Through efforts, bravery and timely use of your gifts, you persisted. But once you finally reached your destination, you were thrown into a cell on a crime you did not commit. It would be far from ideal to be remembered as that person who was cheered on as his lifeless body fell to the floor."

I raised my hand.

"Yes, what is it Tyrone? Why are you doing that?"

"Now that I'm not interrupting you, can you tell where are you heading with this?"

The voice stopped for a moment, before continuing again. "No one wants that to be their end, especially one who will play a pivotal role in the days to come. Now let's see, if we can do better."

The mark on my left hand started to burn, and I clutched it as I winced.

"Remember that Mark and its powers. Consider it, a gift and use it so." The voice offered as the blue glob of light faded away.

'Why do I feel we were just visited by Jeb in a spiritual form?'

' _Because it sounds legit.'_

'So what are we going to do with all this talk we just had?'

' _Jailbreak. Freaking jailbreak.'_

'Just a small question, how do we do that?'

' _Blink. It allows to teleport ahead. We just do that across the bars, get our stuff, and run out like a free fugitive.'_

'But I don't want to be a fugitive. It doesn't sound nice.'

' _But it still sounds better than dead.'_

"Fine then. But this was your choice, not mine." I spoke my thoughts aloud.

'Like someone will believe that I exist.'

I focused my energy to across the bars into free space. I clenched my fist as I did before every Blink, ready to burst free.

' _Go!'_

I felt reality close around me as I moved at speeds I didn't know, bending reality, trying to get out-

"OW!" I cried out as I recoiled from the impact I took from the bars.

' _Note to human, Blink apparently does not bypass solid objects.'_

"Could've told me that earlier." I complained as I rubbed my injured nose. I think I broke it.

' _It's an observational note.'_

"Well that's just great."

The guard who left me a few moments ago came back, probably drawn by the pain I showed.

"Was that you yelling there? And what's that bruise on your face? Did you just try to headbutt your way out?"

"Uhh, you could say something like that. People used to say that I have a head of steel. Guess they meant it metaphorically."

"That's stupid. Not that it matters. You have been summoned for trial. Try not to muck about."

"I'm not a pig. Who even put you in charge of prisoners? You're treating them like animals."

"Shut your mouth. And I don't treat you like an animal. Otherwise I'd have you dead and eaten. Also, I'm here because disgraces like you need a strong person to keep you in check. Now come on."

"Fine."

We walked to a small room, with a podium at the far end, with a balding man behind it. Two other Crafters accompanied him at either side. There was a small chair in front of it, where I presumed I was to sit.

"The defendant has arrived sir." The guard, whose name I for some reason did not even bother with to look at all this time.

"So it appears. You are dismissed for the moment Evans. But do first provide me the statement with the charges against this young man here." The balding Crafter dismissed the guard, who left after giving that book to him he referred to earlier.

"So, young man-"

"Tyrone. TurbulentTyrone. It's written above my head."

"Tyrone. I see. You have committed crimes against Lustace and its people. What say you in your defense?"

"Uhh, I didn't do anything?"

"We have no time for this disorderly conduct. It says here that you have been convicted of multiple crimes including presumed murder of two of our citizens, and-"

"Stress on presumed. I didn't kill anyone." I paused, as the judge looked at me in a not very friendly way. "Sorry."

"There also is proof against you that you have associations with the cult-terrorist group the Withered. This." He showed me my bag, complete with the insignia of the Withered, the black bones and skull. Makes sense why one would call them terrorists when they were almost actively trying to look the part.

"So? Do you know how I got that in the first place? Anyone?" I challenged everyone in the room.

The Crafter on the left offered an answer. "Association with the Withering? That would explain how you got it."

I snapped my fingers. "Well, no. Not at all. The thing is, rather was, that I and a companion of mine were abducted by Griefers. They then went ahead and sent us over to these Withering people, not the friendliest people I tell you, and tried to pull some sacrificial ritual with me as the subject. As in they tried to go for the stab. You still following right? So what happened was I escaped, and got my friend out of there. Those Griefers I mentioned before took away our bags as well, so yeah, we needed inventory space if we wanted to get all the way to Lustace. For holding food and tools and all that stuff. I was going to swap that bag off for something safer and looking less hostile, I swear."

The crafter on the right narrowed his eyes. "You claim that you had been facing one event after another, first abduction, then attempted sacrifice, and somehow you became someone who escaped from the Withering. You still however did not clarify how the heads of Danipe and NoMansFriend came into your possession."

"Well, maybe they were in the bag before I picked it up. I just didn't even look at them."

"Unlikely. What you are saying is preposterous. One does not simply get abducted by Griefers, have all their belongings removed, barely escape death, take an inventory expander from the Withered, and not look inside it once to see that there are the remains of Crafters inside? Your claim of obliviousness to the matter has been proven incorrect."

"With all due respect your honor, who is this person who's trying to hindering my justification of the situation?"

' _When did you get all formal?'_

'Now. Shut up.'

"This is the state lawyer. He's going to act on behalf of the state to ensure that justice is served."

"Why do I have the feeling that this is all stacked against me?" I questioned, in a voice unfortunately loud enough to be heard by the state lawyer while I tried to keep it to myself.

"The law is one which is meant to punish the wrong. The immoral will declare it against them. Furthermore, we have received a statement from Evans that you had planned to fabricate your statement."

' _I don't like the way this is going. It's all up against us, especially with what that Evans said.'_

'They say that truth is bullshit, so I have a feeling what's the best counter.'

' _No way, you are not simply going to-'_

"Your honor," I spoke, voice slightly calmer than before. "The truth is, I confess that the statement I gave was fabricated, and that Evans was true."

' _What the hell are you going for idiot?'_

"And I am willing to accept the punishment for the lying. But your honor, I did so, in order to save Minecraftia, from the danger of the terrorist cult called the Withering. While I am not authorized to tell the truth, I shall do so on the condition that any information that is disclosed here remains confidential. Is that acceptable?"

The crafters paused for a moment, before discussing something with each other in hushed voices.

The judge then spoke. "We have reached the conclusion to agree to your condition. Explain your stance."

"Very well then. You see, the truth is, I am an undercover agent, with previous connections the Looker squad, but took this case in solo. I had seen situation get grievous, and with the support of the Way of the Light, tried to infiltrate one of the Withering's bases. For this, I had to gain their trust. I discarded my previous identity, and worked as one of their non-Withered agents, used to infiltrate places to lure people in for sacrifice. They tried to make me kill for them as well, something I avoided. Instead, I tried to show this by taking heads from the head gallery they have. Yes it is very horrifying in there, and I had to vomit afterwards. But such was an acceptable cost in exchange for saving lives, and to eliminate such a threat from Minecraftia. Someone however, must have seen through that and tried to frame me, and while sending me on another spy mission, which actually was the mission in which I was to make my findings public and take out the Lustace sector of the Withering, someone slipped in those heads again just after I checked my inventory. From there I managed to get here, and was arrested, just according to those monsters' plans."

"What about that you have no proof that you are an investigator trying to eliminate the Withered? What are you going to say next? That you killed RedRinger with a fishing rod?" The lawyer burst out. "What sort of madness does this man speak of, your honor? He believes that can be equal to the Legendary Fisher King, just because he can make up a similar statement. Such a person should be given death by archer squad immediately. These people are a danger to Lustace, and need to be dealt with before they tarnish the name of our heroes."

' _Well, so much for that. Who knew someone was also framed for something like this, and did something like that? I have that inkling he must've BSed too, and became famous. For all we know, I think we're on the same track.'_

'But he wasn't sentenced to death I think.' I thought as I was escorted back to my cell by Evans.

[Red]

The train slowed down at Lustace Station, where I disembarked. Dodging all attendants who would ask for my identity, I escaped into the open of Lustace, donning the new mask. The guards would not know of this Red at least. Zipping through the paths, I found my way to the accommodation building of the Lustace civil service.

'Which one was Robertson's place again?'

' **I think he had class 6 dwellings last time. On the 2** **nd** **floor. I think he'd be Class 5 now, third floor. Or we do things your way. Because you rarely listen to the less chaotic method.'**

'That I do not.'

I went straight to the door, and knocked it. An attendant came up to the door.

"Hello how- who are- agh!" I stabbed the attendant before putting an end to their story, taking in their entire inventory to hide all tracks of mine. I checked at the desk a bit of a distance away, finding a book in a chest.

'We should find something in here.'

I skimmed through the book, finding Crafters' names and which room they were assigned.

' **I wasn't wrong I guess. Class 5 dwellings. He's good with his job. Let's go.'**

Putting the book back in its place, I climbed up the stairs to the third floor, heading to the second one on the left. I gave a lighter knock than before, and got no answer. I tried with a harder, louder knock, still nothing. I broke down the door, and found a disgruntled Robertson just on his way to get the door.

"Sorry. I'll put it back." I apologized as I walked in, putting the door back.

Robertson crossed his arms. "What is your point of barging into someone's house without permission at such an ungodly hour?"

"The fact that you were saying Ty was gonna probably kick the bucket if I didn't act fast. And I'm acting fast right now. Where is he?"

"All I know is that he's probably in custody right now. Don't look at me like that. I'm not hiding anything. I just don't have the details. You're on your own."

"Thanks." I answered, as I proceeded to throw myself out of the flat's window.

' _We are never going to be rational aren't we?'_

'Never.'

Landing on the ground, I took 2 and a half hearts of damage and limited Cripple.

' **There was no point of that whatsoever.'**

I took to the alleys, not wanting have guards ask me what I was doing so late. I headed over to the Lustace jail and checking my gear one more time, I punched down the door.'

' _We need to stop doing that. No one locks them anyways.'_

'Need I remind you I don't act rational all the time?

Sword in one hand and Reason in the other, I was ready to take out any danger whatsoever. Immediately I encountered two who were standing at the entrance, bows drawn.

"In the name of the law, we order you to stand down!"

"Oh, I'm not gonna be the one who'll be down in the next moment." Two shots rang out, knocking them off balance. Another two penetrated their chestplates and left them immobilized and sprawled on the floor.

"Bye." I said as I plunged my sword into both of them.

' _You're really getting hard to judge. Just about yesterday you were all merciful here, and now you're going all bullet-blasting crazy. And enjoying it.'_

'You know what I'll say to this.'

' _Yeah, you'_ _re never rational blah blah.'_

The sound of the gunshots had called in more guards, swords drawn.

'This is going to be fun.' I thought as I raised Reason for the first kill.

[Tyrone]

"Evans? What the hell is going on out there?" I asked with a terribly hidden fear in my voice. Gunshots were echoing all out through the building, a sound all too familiar and all too terrifying.

"I honestly for once, have no idea, and am not in the mood to check it out."

"There's one thing we could do. Because I have a feeling I know who this is, and who are they after."

"Lemme guess. Some dude from the Withered here to break you out?"

"Wish you were true, but hell no. It's that Red dude I think. Been on my arse since I first met him."

Evans' eyes widened, almost looking like they'd fall out. "Red, as in the Red Ring of Death?"

"Think so. He's got lots of cool killing things which are cool as long as they don't involve you."

"I'm out then. Good luck dealing with that Red."

"Hey! Wait up- dammit. At least should've opened me up."

' _Just a random question. What are the odds we could punch through all these bars the whole time?'_

'Pretty bloody low, otherwise no one would use them as restraining structures.'

' **Could we please stop using the profanity?'**

'Shut up Heart.'

' _Try it though; maybe it's all just to fool people.'_

'You know what I will say to this.'

' **Just do it!'**

With a yell, I delivered a punch to the iron bars.

"Shit!" I cried out in pain.

' _Heart, this is your fault.'_

' **No it's not!'**

Another gunshot, and then a masked figure came up to me, wearing a black leather jacket.

"Who are you?" I questioned.

"All I can say is that we know each other, and I'm here to break you out." The person answered, as they open the switch to the door. There was no name above their head for some reason. Why so is above me. But not literally.

"Follow me. Get your stuff and let's go." They said. And I did just that. There was the chest of stuff not too far away from the cell. I picked up my bag and was ready. We hurried down the halls before Mask stopped abruptly.

"Stop. Get the head of one of these guys."

"What? What the bloody-"

I got a finger to my lips. "Shut it. You want to get out alive? Then listen. I need you to take one of their heads and wear them. It should hide your face. Then just sneak out with me, all the way. I know of a safe spot.

"But how do I wear a head? That's gross!"

"Like this." They took a head from the ground, and plopped it onto my head.

It didn't feel like I was wearing a severed skull at all, much to my surprise. More of like a full head mask of papier-mâché.

"That's done now. Move."

He gave me a shove as I tried to eat some bread, and we moved ahead.

"Stay low. You don't want anyone knowing that you just broke out, and I don't want you giving my position away."

"Why? Why is that a problem?"

"What I'm doing is not legal."

"Oh. Never mind.""

"Take a right from here." Mask said as we left the building.

"Just a question. Are you RedRinger? Cause you got the gun and like killing and all?"

"Maybe. Just a bit further." is all I got.

Even in the dim moonlight, the change between the two parts of the city was obvious as I moved from the city proper to… the ghetto? Or slums? Because there's not much of a chance of ethnic discrimination here in Minecraftia, right?

We stopped near a battered down building of sorts. "We made it." Mask said.

"So? Now what? I can't stay here all the time."

"Exactly. When you meet your maker, tell I sent ya." The mask was taken off, and revealed the name dreaded by me, and apparently some others.

'RedRinger.'

* * *

Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Leather Tunic (Dyed Black, Withered Insignia) Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, Head (Danipe) Head (NoMansFriend). 5 Bread, 11 Potatoes, 5 Carrots, 25 Seeds.

Powers: Blink, Hen Grenades.

Fractures Discovered: Tinker's Construct, Thaumcraft, Immersive Engineering.

 **A/N: Things just will never go good for Tyrone won't they? He tried to get it across that he didn't get killed, only to get condemned to death over the fact that his story resembled a bit too much like a certain venerable figure. How does that work you ask? Well, remember how I said that Our Craft is part of a shared universe? Well, this is part of that. No matter how distorted it is from before. Which time period this is, I'll leave that up to your theories, if you're in the mood for that.**


	24. Chapter 24: The Light

Chapter 24: The Light.

 **A/N: Alright! Karbon here with another chapter, that's gotten a bit on the late side. Well, when we last left off, things weren't the most swimmingly for Ty, but he got to Lustace finally. As for the chapter title, it should explain itself soon enough.**

[Tyrone]

'RedRinger.'

"Shit." Was all that came out of my mouth.

"You clearly cannot come up with a witty one liner before you bite the dust, eh? Your time is up. Gimme the message." He motioned with his hand.

"I told you before, and I say it again. I don't have it."

Red took his hand back. "Fine then. Let's say we take your word for it. Then where is the scroll? I might just let you go for that."

"Might?" I questioned his bargain.

"Still better than confirmed death, I'll give you that. You'd be surprised how many times I've saved myself taking that chance."

"Gimme a sec. Lemme think on it." came my answer.

"I don't have all day, even though the moon's going down and a whole day's ahead."

'What do we do?'

' _We hand him the info. Better them than us. Look at it this way. We get indirect revenge from that psycho all the way back, and we live for it. Even if we don't, we might just get that buffer we need to run.'_

' **I say no. It's just wrong; you can't just leave someone to deal with your mistakes. Especially when it will lead to an end of us. What needs to be done is finish this now. End it, and stop this from spreading to others.'**

'I got nothing at all from Heart which made sense.'

' _Yes!'_

"Alright. I'll take your deal. Some lass named Esme took the writing from mejust the day before you went ahead and tried to beat the shit out of me. Though I have a feeling she'd probably be somewhere around here, cause that dude who gave it told me to come here."

' _Dammit! You don't tell everything you idiot!'_

"Alright. Thanks for the whole info. Unluckily you didn't make it on the safe side of the roulette." He lifted his gun, barrel pointing at me. "As much as I'd like to say this ain't personal, I can't. Don't fare well, Withering bastard."

He pressed the trigger.

A single shot rang out.

I was knocked right off my feet, bullet in the side of my chest.

' _Bloody hell, how'd we survive that?'_

My only answer was crying out in pain. The pain was excruciating. 7 hearts excruciating.

' **We need to get out of here!'**

' _You don't say!'_

'Shut up!'

The internal argument continued as Red walked up to me, holstering his gun. And a malicious look on his face. He bent down and punched me.

"This one's for Eclipse!"

"What?" I questioned.

Another fist came down.

"This one's for Dusk!"

Another half heart down.

"Why are you doing-"

"This one's for Marth!"

"Stop-"

I was running low on health. And this dude was gonna beat me to death over some people I've never heard of.

"And this one's for Skyla!"

 _Skyla…_

'Well, I thought if you meet him, tell 'em I said hi.'

With what remaining strength I had left, I managed to grab Red's falling fist.

"There's no point in resisting your fate!"

"All I have to say is…Skyla says hello."

The force behind the fist ceased for a second, Red's expression showing bewilderment for the first time. He was muttering something inaudible.

' _NOW! GRENADE OUT!'_

The egg formed in my marked hand as I smashed it into Red's face. It sent him flying well to the far side of the road, into the wall of a house.

 _We gotta Blink!'_

I tried to charge a Blink onto some building and out of there, but all that happened was my hand went cold as the mark fizzled.

' **I don't know what happened, but it's not good.'**

I checked my food, 2 sticks.

'Guess I just ran out.' I thought as I wolfed down two loaves of bread before blinking onto a flat roof of wood.

' **We need to get out of here while we can! And warn everyone of Red!'**

I glanced down from the roof to see where Red was. He was slumped against the wall. But hadn't turned into items yet, to both my fear and relief. He was fazed though from that last bit of force I put in. With quiet thanks to my powers and the one who gave them, I Blinked away from the scene and into the proper city again, as a fugitive.

' _Speaking of which, any idea where we could get some new clothes from? I'm not so keen on being connected to someone who has a bullet wound in them. And it's bleeding. We need to do something about that.'_

Back in the central part of the city, I tried to find a sign of sort for directions to the Way of The Light's Headquarters or whatever they called it. Unfortunately, I found no success, with me spending most of my time looking behind my back for the possibility of Red being right behind me. This did attract some people's stares, and they kept their distance. Obviously. Which took the possibility of asking directions out of the way. Hence I resorted to find the place on my own, trying to eat to bring my health up on the way. The bleeding had stopped, but the stain persisted.

' **This is going to be harder than we thought isn't it?'**

'Yessiree.'

' _Though we could still ask for help. Someone might just listen.'_

"Hey!" I called out to the passersby. "Anyone willing to tell me where the Way of The Light is stationed? I need to meet those people."

One of them stopped and looked at me funny. "What for? And why would they want to meet you? Get some actual clothes."

"Let's just say I dealt with some bad times and now I need their help. Clothes included. So would you be a nice person?"

"What do I get out of this?"

'We don't have anything of advantage, do we?'

' **Nope. Or we could threaten him maybe?'**

' _That's my line. You can't say that Heart.'_

"How about if you tell me where it is, you don't have to watch me hurt myself with this sword here."

"You can cut yourself dead for all I care, as long as you don't put me amongst the witnesses or killers. Not worth the jury summons. Even if I'm going there everyday already."

' _Didn't expect him to be a smartass.'_

"How about me not attacking you? Is that going to make you talk?" I said as I drew my sword, trying to intimidate him.

"Assault is a criminal offence, according to Federation laws. Punishable by a fine of emeralds twice the hearts damage inflictedon someone or two weeks in prison, at the discretion of both the judge and victim. And looking at you, seems like jail is gonna be the option. And also you aren't allowed to conceal carry any weapons. There's a fine of 5 emeralds on that alone, though if you bug off right now, I'll let it slide. And I would recommend you try not to mess with a lawyer."

I sheathed my sword and drew my hands back. "Okay. I won't bother you. Just don't get me arrested."

"That would be useful." The lawyer said with disdain. "Now if you would allow me, I need to go for an important corporate case. Not that it would matter to you."

"Alright. Good luck. Goodbye." I stammered as I stepped away.

' **If I was a headquarters for a nice organization, where would I be?'**

' _Hell if I know.'_

'What? What you going on about?'

' _Hell if I know. Hellephino Avenue. It says right there that the HQ to the Way of The Light is over there.'_

'That's good. C'mon. We gotta move.' I ran down the path, almost crashing through the door of the place when I found it. "Where's Finn?!" I called to the people, who were all presumably shocked to see a madman with bullet in his chest yelling for someone.

"We don't know of any Finn at all, unfortunately. We're not even part of this. We're just here to be heard out. You're welcome to join us though."

"No thanks." I hurried out of the door.

'Now where the hell is that panda?'

* * *

[Finn]

"I need to do something about this Withering. I don't like the way it's starting to feel at all." I muttered to myself as I went down to the House of Miracles, the go-to place to handle any ailments of any sorts. Surely most of the time milk would do the job and that was Arcadia's bread and butter, but there were always these off situations, like Crippled or whatnot. Though I once heard of someone becoming half tree once. Notch knows how that was handled.

"Come in, come in." I was greeted by the alchemist. "What's it this time? Someone crippled again? Need some milk? Or-"

"I'm Withered. Got anything to help with that?"

Arcadia was immediately taken back by that. "My goodness! What happened dear lad?"

"Long story. Made short, bad stuff happened, now I'm Withered and need your help. Anything?"

"Not sure if I have a complete cure, but I think I got something that might keep it at bay for a few days at least."

"What is it?"

"A nice bath with some salts. Great bath salts."

"Arcadia, you aren't the type to make those sorts of remarks."

"I'm serious. I think a nice bath should help with your Withering."

"Why? It's some sort of magical bath?"

"Pretty much. It cost me quite a bit getting hold of the bath salts for stuff like this. They're primarily used to combat Warp, but I'm pretty sure they put other bad stuff at bay as well. After all, Warp is one of the worst things that could happen to a Crafter. Trust me on this one. I have first-hand experience."

"You never told me you were a Thaumaturge."

"There's no need to tell your customers that. So you're taking the salts?" Arcadia asked as she showed me the whitish powder.

"Guess so. So I just put them in water?"

"And bathe in that. That'll be 30 emeralds."

"What did you just say?! Thirty emeralds for…this?" I motioned at the salts.

"Yes. Buying these from Tarfa isn't cheap, shipping excluded even."

"Any Way of the Light discount? Or anything?"

"Nope. Not today. I told you, it isn't cheap getting these things from way over from there."

"Well, I wasn't expecting it to cost _that much._ So I'll be back in a minute. Get what emeralds I need to pay."

"Sure. Take your time. But know I don't have all day."

"It won't take that long."

I left the shop, the sun at its zenith. I needed to get back to my place, hopefully scrounge up the gems I needed to at least put this Withering problem on hold. I went back toward Hellephino Avenue, when I found a guard putting up some sort of picture of some wanted person.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing much. Just that we had some sort of break out of prison in the morning. It was a full bloodbath. Pretty much everyone on duty got busted, and yet only one captive was broken out."

"And may I ask who?"

"See for yourself." She stepped aside to let me see the poster.

"Oh Notch," I whispered. I remembered when I said that Ty was going to get me into trouble some point. This was that time.

"Why so startled? You have any idea who that is?" The guard asked.

"No, no. Not at all. It's just that it's how he looks. He seems really new and stuff. If he can pull a bloodbath like that, there must be something really dangerous he must be hiding. I don't know what, but I don't like the feeling of it. Especially the fact that such a person could do something like this. I just hope it turns out okay for everyone. Without anyone getting hurt. Or as few as possible."

"Quite the pacifist we got here." The guard remarked.

"It's what you pick up from the Light over time."

"Suit yourself."

I was headed back to base when a figure in a hood crashed into me yelling "Finn!" knocking me to the ground.

"It's so good I found you where you are. Things aren't *pant* too good right now." A Tyrone who had fallen onto me said.

"Could you please get off? People are starting to give us weird looks." I said as a few bystanders kept quite the distance from us as they went along with their business, giving us weird looks.

Tyrone got back to his feet, and before he said his piece, I blurted.

"What did you do to get yourself the titles of criminal and fugitive?"

"What? What'd you mean?" Ty questioned.

"What I mean," I said in a matter of factly tone as I began my walk back to the Lustace HQ, "Is that I found a wanted poster of you having a bounty on your head for breaking out of jail. How did you get into all of this?" I asked.

"Lemme explain." Ty tried to assure me. "It's nothing like what they make it seem. What happened was that remember when I broke us out of that Withered place? Where I got the wand and all? Well, apparently there were heads in that bag which I picked up, and that, coupled with that I didn't have my Initiation book which I lost back there as well I think, and a crap ton of other things, at this point I was wanted for presumed murder and connections to the Withered, even though I tried to prove my point otherwise. Then I went ahead and tried to BS my way through trying to say it all was an elaborate scheme as an agent of a Looker squad thing that I made up, and saying that, well, got some people angry."

We arrived back at the WoTL building, and we went inside Ty still talking.

"Then what happened is that somewhere at night Red broke in, killed everyone and took me with him to some slums of sort, and tried to take me out there, thinking I was Withered, and he took it personally. But I wasn't one to step down easy-"

I tuned out to Ty's overly glorified fight with Red as I fished out whatever emeralds I could find, which luckily, added up with what I had already, added up to a bit around 32 emeralds.

"So, yeah. I forgot the most important part. I accidentally told Red that I gave the scroll to Esme, and that she might be around here. So I _might_ have put her in a tight spot."

I took a deep breath, not turning to meet him. "And why did you do that?"

"Because it's what seemed the safest way to get Red off of me?"

"Well, that didn't work at all and now you got one of the most dangerous bounty hunters out there trying to kill one of our own over something which probably isn't even worth the fuss that's being made over it!" I spoke right in his face, almost yelling.

"Maybe there's something worthwhile, like critical info."

"All the more reason to get to work!" I was panicking. Here one of my… _comrades_ had taken on the name of a criminal and put this side of the WoTL into danger by calling a cold blooded murderer to it. "You go find Esme, take control of the situation somehow, like you do. I need to hurry and get my Withering treated."

"Toldya it'll work out fine in the end. You'll be fine."

"It's treatment, not cure, and it costs a lot. And go! What are you waiting for?"

"Fine!" My panic had become contagious as Ty hurried out of the room for somewhere. 'But why was there that bloodstain on him? From the fight?' A thought resonated through my mind as I went back to Arcadia for the salts.

* * *

[Red]

"You had a good sleep?" I asked as Esme stirred and awoke.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my room, you stalker?" She answered as she shuffled away from me.

"I am man who strikes fear into one's hearts, death to one's soul. I am the Reaper."

She got off her bed. "If this is some prank, I'm calling the guard to have you thrown out."

"There will be no guard. After all, the dead don't walk in on people." I said as I threw out a trio of guards' heads who were in the vicinity.

Esme shrank away from the heads with a shriek. "What sort of sick thing are you?"

"I have only one thing to say. Give me the manuscript."

"Who sent you here? Who told you about that?"

"That is irrelevant. Answer me. Or do I have to Reason with you?" I unholstered Reason and threw a glance at the heads. "You don't want to join them do you?"

"N-no, so what do you want?" The intimidation seemed to work.

"I said it before, and I say it again. Give me the manuscript. I was told you would have it."

"I don't have it. At least not anymore. Who said that I had it?"

"I have my sources. So where is it? Tell me. I don't have all day."

"It's not with me. It's with someone else."

"You told me that already. I need details. And fast."

"Harold." She finally gave in. "HaroldOfTruth. That's who has it."

I holstered Reason again. "Thank you for cooperation miss. Now would you also just be a nice one and tell me where he is?"

"Do you really think I'll just hand that info over?"

"Do you need a reminder?"

"The Way of The Light Headquarters! That's where he is!" She panicked.

"Thank you. Now I'll be off. As for who sent me here, it was Tyrone, to answer your question. A real pain in the arse to deal with though." I left a comment as I showed my way out from the door. Now off to take out Harold. Of course it's him. I should've known. Herobrine better put up the price after all that I've dealt with on the way.

Dropping by Hellephino Avenue, I took off the mask to take a light breather as I went in to the WoTL building. There was a counter where I entered, an old man there.

"Hello young lad, can I do something for you?"

"I'm a bit in a hurry. Can I have a meeting with HaroldOfTruth?" I asked.

"Let me see." He answered as he skimmed through a ledger of sorts. "Yes he's actually available. Go on in."

I walked into his private quarters, finding Harold poring over some book, writing from his arm movements. He stopped and raised his head.

"You have come for something and none of it good. There is a disturbance in your aura. What is it that troubles you?"

I answered the question. "You have something I want. And I have a score to settle with you."

"It's you Red? Oh, it's been such a long time since we last met. So sorry we had to part with such hard feelings." He stood up from his chair. "You are aggravated aren't you? Or so you believe. You are distressed. Your troubled past has only made your present harsher. This isn't who you were Red."

My muscles tensed all over. "Yes, this isn't who I was. But this is what you made me!" I charged at him with my Cobalt Blade.

Harold crouched and dodged the blow, deflecting the follow up with his blade of diamond. "Why are you here Red? You would not come all this way for a personal matter." Harold shot a question at me.

"The manuscript. I need it. And I'll take it from your cold, dead pile!" I struck again. Metal collided against diamond as Harold parried another strike.

"You don't need to fight for that! Violence is not the answer, isn't that what I told you?"

"You told that to everyone else! And what happened to them?! You sent me away from the order, just because I tried to save myself from killers!" I went for a stab, grazing the side of Harold's glowing iron armor.

"That was against the doctrine of our camaraderie! You were not to leave your friends to die, but help them."

"Help them against what!? And what did you do?! You are as much of a monster as me, abandoning me when I needed you the most, _mentor_. Or is it that you never cared about me?" I went for the legs, my onslaught becoming more aggressive. "You treated me as an outcast, unworthy, because I was an outsider!" I struck, and knocked down Harold, having him on the ground, but he rolled up before I could deliver a critical blow.

"That is not true. You were an equal, but your pride made you believe you were entitled to more. You were a prodigy Red, and we all knew that." Harold returned to stance.

"Yes you did, and that's why you tried to downplay me! You cared more about the others than me! You treated them like your progeny! But what about me!? As soon as the others are gone, you left me alone to die. Like the outsider you treated me as."

"We treated you all the same. But you were the envious one. And we did not leave you, you left us."

"That does not matter! Look at where they are, and where I am. And this is your fault! You made me who I am. And now you will feel what I went through." I put all that rage into that one swoop, wanting to end this. "Die!"

Excruciating pain seared through my wrist.

"Goddamn you!" He had almost cut my right hand off, my wrist bleeding like no tomorrow. I looked up to see Harold, who had pointed his sword toward me.

"Evil never wins. Stand down Red. Let me, let us help you."

I had clutched my wrist in pain, left hand stained red, staining-

"Do you believe I need help? Do you believe that someone like me can be helped?"

"Yes. One always can turn back to the light, and that is what we are here for."

"That is where you were wrong. Strike me down. It will be better that way. You told me that I should've died with them back there. Better late than never."

"No, you don't need to-" was all that Harold could utter before I stabbed him in the gut with Knifeshot.

"You may be a better fighter Harold, but you were never a killer. And now you never will be." I lay him on the ground, shooting him with Reason once and dropping a Hunger splash potion on him.

"Now you will die. Bleed out or starve. But you will not make it. And I'll leave you like that, like you left me. Helpless. And one last thing. I'll be taking that paper. Herobrine is going to be so happy." I smiled at the statement, much to Harold's dismay.

I took his bag, and emptied it. The scroll was there. Finally that whole thing came to an end. Took so long, but it got done in the end.

'25 emeralds, here I come.' I said as I sipped a healing potion, leaving a scene of terror in my wake.

* * *

[Finn]

I walked back to the WoTL HQ after I got the salts from Arcadia, mind racing over the developments Ty told me about. The posters were still there, showing that he wasn't caught yet, but where would he find Esme? Most likely she would bring the scroll to Harold, like Ty had said.

Harold.

Harold had to know where Esme was right now, or whether she was here at all. On the way, I was pushed aside by someone wearing a mask, and a cut wrist. He said nothing as he went by, and he seemed in a hurry. I paid no heed as I went in, greeting the man at the counter.

"Is Harold available right now?" I asked.

"Yes actually. The person he was meeting with just left a few moments ago."

I walked into the room, only to find his downed form on the ground, bleeding and in pain.

"What happened here?" I hurried to ask Harold.

"It's… too late. The message… has been taken, and my time…has come."

"No, no no no! You're not going to die Harold. We all need you."

"Everyone needs… each other, but all must pass. Finn…take my journal. And the map inside. Keep it safe. Find allies on this quest. Find Esme. She will tell you what has happened."

"I don't need you to leave me right now, where things are already going so bad." I began rummaging through the chest, trying to find a healing potion or even milk, but failed.

"It is futile to swim against the river, Finn. It is over for me. But the story has begun… for you." Harold closed his eyes, looking content.

"Harold, hang on. We can do something." I turned back to him, only for him to puff into his armor and head.

"Farewell Harold. May it be better for you on the… other side."

I sat there, going over everything that just happened. The WoTL head of the Lustace district just died before my eyes, and gave me some responsibility, something which involved his journal, and Esme. And Ty was out there, a fugitive who probably was going to screw up somewhere.

This day could not get any crazier.

* * *

Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, 11 Potatoes, 5 Carrots, 25 Seeds.

Inventory (Finn): Bucket, Iron Sword, Stone Pickaxe (Heavy use) 2 Wooden Logs, 6 Wooden Planks, 2 Emeralds, Purifying Bath Salts.

 **A/N: RIP Harold. And Red has the scroll, putting that whole thing to rest. Things aren't looking good. And I'll just throw this out; I** _ **might**_ **not be able to put up a main chapter on the 15** **th** **. Though there might be something which a cob of corn would call an omake, just that won't go with a chapter, but mainly more of a transition from the plot here to the next point. Thanks for understanding.**

 **P.S: WoTL means Way of The Light, in case it accidentally threw you off. I was getting lazy writing the whole name over and over.**


	25. Chapter 25: Reprieve

25: Reprieve

 **Alright! Karbon here with another chapter, and well, Happy New year! I won't bother you with any of the typical phrases, and well, get to the chase. I might work on changing up the upload schedule a bit, maybe swap out longer spaced out chapters for shorter ones closer together like a week apart as it was back before. But time will tell better. Anyways, onto the main content.**

[Red]

I entered the Nether Portal I constructed in my outpost, and felt the temperature rise substantially. I was greeted by the majestic lava falls in the distance, as I walked out of the portal and right to a precipice made of Netherrack. I looked around, trying to get my bearings. Maps weren't going to work here, and it was going to be a problem getting to the fortress without knowing where I was in the first place. I took in my surroundings, hoping to find a signboard or something. Something unlikely to persist in hell, but you could never overestimate crafter ingenuity.

' _Nothing. Nothing at all. And maps don't work normally here either do they?'_

I snapped my fingers. Map. I whipped out my map I made of the Nether way back when I was an inexperienced weakling.

'Why did I have this again?' I thought as looked at the image that was on paper, showing a bright orange peppered with bits of red-brown.

' _You tell us. You took it out while going through that chest of yours while getting some fire-res potions.'_

I lowered the map, trying to compare what was here and what was plotted.

"Nothing. Dammit." With a sigh I put back the map and started walking back toward the mainland of Netherrack, hoping to find some sign of Crafter life.

I went on, against the direction of the portal, but I found nothing but Netherrack and soul sand. No sign of crafters whatsoever. Or constructions.

' **Call this a crazy possibility, but you think we could ask a pigman about where to go for the fortress and stuff?'**

'I don't speak zombie grunt.'

' **Any better idea? Though the piggies do understand Herobrine, so why not us?'**

"So, we going for pigman talking I guess? This is going to go terrible, I call it already."

I went further into the mainland, and at a lower level found a group of them, wandering around like the aimless fools they are.

' _Aimless fools that hit like a truck.'_

I hopped down a few blocks, and walked up to them, folded Cobalt blade in hand in case things get messy.

"Uhh, hello, pigmen. I'm a-" I said this all using an excessive amount of gestures trying to get my point across. "Crafter. Human. I want, to meet, Herobrine. He-ro-brine. Where is his fortress?" I spread my arms, trying to explain the massive structure.

"Grunt. Grugrunt. Grunt."

"Come again?"

"Grunt." One of the pigmen pointed to something in the distance, and looking close, it was a fortress alright.

"Thanks. I'll be on my way then, er, fellow pigmen."

' **See? Toldya it'd work.'**

Somehow climbing onto one of the fortresses walkways, I walked all the way to the main building. As usual, there were the two pigmen guarding it.

"I'm back. Lemme in. I'm here to meet Herobrine."

With the grunt stereotypical to the pigmen, they stepped aside, drawing their swords away from the entrance. I walked in; the dark brown hallways lit up with glowstone lamps and made of nether brick. A minute's waling brought me to the throne room.

"So I'm back. Took me a bloody long time, but I got the whole thing you were after." I took out the manuscript, unrolled. Harold must've read it before I got to him.

Green globules of light came together, forming a translucent likeness of the Second Admin, seated on his throne, or whatever you could call it.

With a beckoning motion, he called me closer. The message floated out of my hand and into his. He began to read.

"Hm. I see. It seems you were too late in procuring the message. The seal was broken. Or are you connected to the reason why the seal is broken?"

"Nay, milord. The script surely had been read before, unfortunately, but the one person who it was meant for is no more. HaroldOfTruth is dead."

Herobrine relaxed. "Very well. Although you were late in procuring what I told you, you made sure to prevent the damage as much as you could. You will be rewarded as you were promised." He pulled a lever, and a chest popped up, inside of which were 40 emeralds.

"15 of those can be considered as a reward for taking the initiative. Though you deserve more, and you will get it with what I have in store for you. It appears that this manuscript points toward some artifacts which might be of interest. I need you to procure them for me, and while you're at it-" Herobrine smiled. "I need you to eliminate that one person who appears to be a problem for you. TurbulentTyrone. He shows capabilities of the Marked, and that combined with his apparent allegiance might make what I have in store a bit more complicated. So, two birds with one stone for you."

"Marked?" I asked. "Whatcha mean? What's so special?"

"Need I humble you through a reminder of your failure at an earlier hour? One of the Admins must've marked him, Notch or Jeb. The Mark provides its owner with powers unlike any other. Something which you experienced firsthand. Such individuals are few and far between, and I wonder what did either one of them find in him. Either way, you've seen what he could do with that little experience he had. Just think what could be the results if he's let to go on like that. He could prove unstoppable."

"Fine then. How about you make this whole job real quick, and give me a Mark too. After all, you're an Admin, aren'cha?"

"Patience, my champion. Things are not as simple as they seem. Your strength is from your skill of using what you know well. Disturbing that balance could prove detrimental. Furthermore, I do not have the ability to, as Notch stripped me of my Command block before banishing me here, disabling me from granting others the powers that the others can. That is why I need you to go find these artifacts. The way this DiamondDust describes them gives me a feeling they may be connected to or include my Command Block. Hence I need you to go fetch them for me. You are dismissed."

The likeness dispersed, the globules flying away in all directions. I punched the air on the way out. Not only did I get extra cash, I get paid for revenge!

The trip back to the portal was felt much more pleasant and less pigman involved.

[Finn]

I sat at Harold's desk for a few moments, trying to make sense of what had happened. Someone came in, and just took him out. How could someone best him, arguably one of the better fighters in the faction? His last words echoed through my head.

" _Take my journal…and the map inside. Keep it safe…find allies, find Esme…"_

Journal. I opened the journal, and a sheet of paper fell out. A quick look at it made it seem like a map. Harold was talking about one being in there alright. It seemed similar to the map of Minecraftia, but without the political borders.

'Feds would be flipping at this. Minecraftia without borders.' I smiled as I looked through the map. Certain points were marked on it, captioned with writing beyond my understanding. One of those points, close to Tarfa was circled, with a 'sent' written in Harold's writing, from what the journal said. Harold's remains were still there, and I hadn't bothered to do anything lest I end up in Tyrone's situation and get punished for being in the wrong place in the wrong time. But I couldn't just let him disappear without a proper burial either. If I report this to the receptionist, ArgueStat, I'm toast. If I try to run, the next person to come in will find Harold down and out, and all fingers go to me. Just great. I had to do something though. I bagged the journal, and walked out, toward the lobby.

"This could either go absolutely great, or it could be the end of me." I whispered my plight to myself. I walked up to the back of the receptionist, and quietly whispered in his ear.

"Hi. Just wanted to ask, any idea who was the person who came before FinnThePanda?"

He turned around, and was taken aback by my sudden appearance.

"Finn? When did you come back?"

"Well, er, that has to do with my question, because I think whoever was here before me wasn't friendly at all, and hurt Harold really bad. There must've been a fight."

"What madness are you talking about!?" He panicked and bolted out of his chair, hurrying into the room.

I followed him, surprised at the pace he raced in. Inside, he stopped dead in shock.

"Impossible… How could this happen?"

"That's what I was saying Stat. It's impossible. I just came in and Harold bled out in front of me before I could even get to him."

Stat picked up the chestplate and looked it over. "There was a fight it seems. The armor's been penetrated over here." He pointed to a hole in it.

"Well, we can't do anything about it."

"Not for me though. Gotta arrange a burial, have to explain to the higher ups what happened, which is why you're stuck with me."

"C'mon Stat, how bad could it be?"

"Real bad. You haven't seen how bureaucracy works here have you?"

"Er, I gotta go. Just remembered that a friend was waiting for me. Busy day. Bye!" I hurried away. Last thing I want is that gets Ty in trouble due to a lack of supervision. I exited the Way of the Light Headquarters, and decided to take a trip to the market district, when I found Tyrone hurrying over in my direction, before doubling over to catch his breath.

"What happened to ya?" I asked, surprised and concerned.

He took a few seconds to catch his breath before looking at me. "Found her. And do you happen to have a little food lying around? Kinda starving here. I'll tell you what happened in a minute." He said as Esme followed behind him.

"Get back here you little- Finn what are you doing here with this Legionnaire?"

"Long story. Real long story." Ty answered. "Why she after me right now, another long story." Ty turned around and took a hit from a stone sword. "And I'll tell you after you please, for the love of Notch get her to stop trying to kill me!" He scrambled back before getting up, poised to bolt away. Esme seemed angered for some reason, calling Ty a Legionnaire for some reason. I stood in the middle of this scuffle, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Could you to just stop for a moment and tell me what's going on between you two?"

"He's part of the legion and killed-"

"She thinks I'm evil but I'm not-"

"Can you two just stop acting like children and explain this in a civilized manner? Harold just died, he told me to make a team, find you and here both of you are just being immature idiots here!"

"What?" Esme dropped her sword, shocked. "Harold's dead? How-"

"Someone killed him. He was living his last moments when I found him. Told me I need to make a team, and sort of save the world sorta thing. And he said you knew something Esme."

She seemed to have frozen in time, having heard the news of Harold's death. Of course. He was a kind person to everyone. Like a father. Not to mention he had so much experience, he could solve anything. Maybe not.

I brushed the old memories away. "And Ty, what's Esme on about you being a Legionnaire?"

"Crazy story. Remember when I said she took the message from me? Actually she thought I was someone from some Herobrine's Legion because I wasn't wearing any mark of sorts. Well in short, that combined with that I had the message supposed to only be with Will, she thought I was some bad dude, she beat me up, and I faked suicide to save myself. But then-" He whispered, "Shouldn't you have known that?"

"Not now." I answered quietly. "So, Esme. What knowledge do you exactly have that would make Harold want to single you out for me and my little friend here to find?" I could see Ty doing a little jump of joy, but I ignored it.

"Well, do I have to say it in front of him?" She pointed toward Ty. "He's a threat."

"He's not a danger Esme. If anything, he's anything but. He's been taking Red off your tail. He's been chasing him all this time. Up until now I guess. That's why I guess he found out everything."

"That again is his fault!" She piped up again. "He spilled the beans, and now because of him, Red got to me, and because of me, Harold- Harold is gone."

"We can't do anything about what happened before, unfortunately. All we can do is not let more issues like this happen. And next time, hopefully talk about this in a more secluded location." I just realized we had been going over all this in the courtyard, and while there wasn't anyone actually nearby, you couldn't be too sure.

Ty sat on a bench nearby. "So what exactly are planning to go for here? I didn't go through risking myself for nothing."

"Esme. The floor's yours. What do you know that would make you important in this whole thing?"

"Knowledge. I know what probably no one else alive does. I know what was in the message. Can we talk about this in a more silent place as you said?"

"I think it's fine right now." Tyrone popped in.

"No one asked for your opinion."

"Why? Because you think I'm evil and I'm a legionnaire? Well, I'm not. So shut up."

"She's right Ty. This isn't the safest place to discuss confidential information."

"Well, fill me in fast. I gotta meet up with some people who can help me with a problem that has you concerned about me."

"Are you about to do something about the posters?" I asked in a discreet manner.

He lightly nodded in reply.

"Now are you keeping me in the dark for something?" Esme asked.

"Nothing special. So are you gonna make this quick?" I took in a quick look around, and felt no one nearby. "Seems we're in the clear. Though you may wanna still be quiet."

"Well, if Harold told me to tell you, then it goes something like this. The message was something about some war brewing, plus some really extremely amazing artifacts. I don't know what they exactly do, but they were claimed to have 'nigh divine powers', whatever that means." She said with air quotes. "It also talked about some map, saying something about sending people there to secure the stuff."

It made sense now.

"And they're going to Tarfa first!" I said as I unrolled the map and pointed at the spot, excitement taking away any semblance of caution.

"So what does that mean? We drop by and warn them or something? Because I don't know how archeological digs work. Though I wouldn't mind a book trying to explain how they do." Ty spoke his piece.

"We could tell Dust. About what happened. I don't see how that would need us there though." I tried to come up with a plan on the information we gathered.

"There's no Hotlink access in the whole Tarfa area. Plus I don't see why not just drop by for the sake of an experience."

"Didn't know you were one to care about experiences in a less serious way for once. I thought you only went for them to get stronger and better."

"And now you're going to divulge this in front of-"

"I am not a Legionnaire. And if you two are just going to drag this on, I'll just more important matters handled. And I'm borrowing some food from the inside. You're cool with that?"

[Tyrone]

I walked into the building, searching for food.

'I'll need a lot for going all over the city clearing my name.'

' _That we will. Hurry up. We promised we wouldn't keep them waiting. Clean out your stuff while you're at it though. No one wants seeds when we got…glorious steak!'_

* * *

Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, 11 Potatoes, 5 Carrots, 5 Steak, 4 Cooked Mutton.

Inventory (Finn): Bucket, Iron Sword, Stone Pickaxe (Heavy use) 2 Wooden Logs, 6 Wooden Planks, 2 Emeralds, Map, 1 Book.


	26. Chapter 26: Law (Part 1)

26: Law (Part 1)

 **Karbon here. Back with another chapter, just barely making it through the week deadline. I think it's gotten late though. Either way, it's here, enjoy.**

* * *

[Tyrone]

Grabbing the meats out of the chest, I set out to meet the Roadsiders over near the slums where Red set me up several hours ago. The sun had past its brightest, and I wanted to get there as soon as possible. Because I might have a plan to clean up what got me wrong.

Almost finishing whatever potatoes I had, I returned to the rooftops, stumbling and Blinking across them to get back to the rendezvous. On the way, I took in a different view of the city than that there was at ground level, even from places I had been to. People streamed through the streets, in all sorts of garments, resulting in a haphazard meld of color.

' _Speaking of that, you may wanna take that hood off. The bloodstain's still there and a big red splotch might not help saying you're innocent with a gunshot wound.'_

'Feels cold out here. Not sure if I wanna just dump it like that.'

' **Well then how do we clean that blood off? Drop into a pond or something?'**

'Seems like a legit idea.' I dropped off near a park and much to the surprise of people, took a dunk in the pond.

"What the hell's wrong with you? You ruined my suit! I had to go somewhere after this you fool!"

"Sorry! Gotta go!" I darted back before hurrying out of the pond, chomping on a carrot as I went.

* * *

"I'm back. Sorry if I was late."

"Not at all. C'mon. We got places to be and pasts to see." Silver assured me. And hewas off. The others followed suit, and so did I as we went into the slums of the city of Lustace.

"So what exactly are we doing here?"

"What do you think? We explore, find stuff, take it, study it, and have fun." The one named Instant_Milo answered.

"I thought you were just an explorer group."

"We are. And we're also treasure hunters, archeologists, scavengers, whatever you wanna call us."

We had climbed onto one of the dilapidated houses, with a shorter roof than most.

"I know I'm being annoying with all the questions and all, but what exactly are we doing here in this slum? Especially the taking people's stuff part."

"For one, this isn't a slum. And no, no one lives here, at least not anymore. This is more of an old city, if you may. The older part of the city which after the War was not bothered to be repaired and the officials just left the place more or less. People did the same. It's more or less ruins and antiquity site if you're into that. Luckily, we are. Plus, some stuff still works and sells well. Like this sword here. One of the earlier Tinker Tools, back then, they didn't even have casting." MeinTech, who seemed to be the main history buff here, answered. "But it's still interesting, how they managed to manipulate obsidian in such a way. It's beautiful." He turned it in his hands, the black broadsword gleaming in the sun's light.

' _And he seems too engrossed in his little admiration for an old sword.'_

I left Mein to his own devices, heading over to Silver.

"Just wanted to say thanks for bringing me along. This is, interesting, at the least."

"You're welcome. After all, we were thinking of adding you into the group. You show some real maneuverability skills, and we could use those." I nodded, recalling how I caught their attention. I had taken to the rooftops a few hours ago looking for Esme and hiding from detection at the same time. A bit of Blinking must've looked like I had some unreal skills, and they called me here.

"Okay, that's nice of you. Though I had something to ask of you too, if you think you wanna help out."

"Anything for a fellow Roadsider." Silver answered.

I then told him what happened, the whole Withering situation, getting framed and the whole nine yards, barring any involvement with Ironhaven and whatever powers Jeb gave me. And Red. I replaced him with someone with a generic, considering how many are scared of him.

"So, that's why I was up on the roofs in the morning. They had me arrested for something I didn't do, and I wanted to wait it out till I could do something about it."

"So why exactly did you tell me this?"

"I need your help. I have a plan, but it's crazy and I can't do it on my own. My plan is that while you clean out the posters, I infiltrate the main headquarters and clean my name out of it. Seem cool to you?" I asked.

"No. My answer is no. That's because it's wrong on so many levels.

"I thought you were going to do anything for a fellow Roadsider."

"There's something called a figure of speech. Look it up, and don't get us in trouble over your own crazy plans. I'm not going to risk my team over what you're going to do."

"Okay, sorry I bothered you. Just one last thing. Where's the library?" I turned around to leave.

"It's right out of here, to the left. And check the damn law you're trying to dodge while you're at it, don't want you finding a loophole in it." I turned around. The other seemed busy, but Silver had a faint grin.

"Anything for a fellow Roadsider." He mouthed.

"Thanks." And I left for the library.

Entering inside the building, I was greeted by shelves upon shelves of books. All kinds, fiction, cooking, history and all what you'd expect.

"This is amazing." I said to myself, before getting shushed by the librarian, who was a Testificate.

' _Who knew the nose-faces would be here too?'_

"Who cares?" I turned to the librarian. "Can I find the law code for the Minecraftian Federation here?"

"Yes. It should be in the shelf to the right, next to the history section."

"Thanks, and do you happen to carry any book called the Combat Etiquette Primer?"

"Unfortunately no such book exists in my knowledge."

"Very well. Nice meeting you."

"Please stay silent while in the premises."

"Don't worry." I whispered. I pulled out the book and began to read.

' _Constitution and Law of the Minecraftian Federation. Article 1, clause 1: All Crafters and similar sentient and sapient beings are equal in rights, opportunities, and dignity. Clause 2: Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. This is going to be a long hour or two. And my hunch was right. The fact that he decided to help so soon after denying seemed off. Or not. Dammit we gotta hurry! It could be that the whole thing is a trap! He's probably tipped the guard off.'_

' **Paranoid. Finn's really been creeping onto you.'**

' _No. It makes perfect sense. They were interested, because we have a bounty on our heads. Silver was trying to set us up. That's why he was mad when we tried to slip out of his potential profit, and then he sent us here, and tried to make us read this, because it'll take ages. It's a trap!'_

'But what about the plan of clearing our name?'

' _I dunno, but we'll have to read the fastest we ever have. Find an index or something. But hurry!'_

"Fine!" Brain's panic found its way into my voice, and drew the gazes of the Crafter's in the building, and another shush from the librarian. I bolted to the bookshelf holding the multiple books of Federation law, and began skimming through the index.

"General Law, trade law, citizenship, constitution, criminal law. Yes." I managed to limit my excitement to a whisper this time, and I pulled out the book from the shelf.

"Alright, now where is it?" I spoke to myself as I turned the pages.

' _Hurry up, I hear the guards at the door!'_

'You're going mad Brain. Here it is. Under Criminal Law, Article 3, Murder, Clause 1 says that-'

 _´We're losing time!'_

I gritted my teeth, as I continued to skim through. 'For the killing of a Crafter to be considered as murder, the defendant must have malicious intent, voluntarily attack or cause an attack on said victim, and must be in a sane state of mind. In case of one or more of these being unfulfilled, said crime shall be considered as manslaughter. See Article 4 for details.'

' **Why is law so hard and weird and complicated?'**

' _To allow for us to find loopholes. Keep looking, and hurry up!'_

'I'm trying! So Article 4 says that in case of no proof of any of the conditions of murder being fulfilled, the crime will be considered manslaughter, and based on testimony, will be deemed voluntary or involuntary. In either case, investigation to verify the testimony is to be done. If it is voluntary, but does not fit the cases of murder as stated in Article 3, the defendant shall be given a punishment of 200 emeralds, or 10 year of imprisonment, or both, based on the discretion of the judge. If no proof of voluntary attack is found, the punishment should be at the discretion of the judge, if the judge is known to be of sane mind and body and has a reputation of fairness.'

' _I think we found what we need. Grab the book and go.'_

'We have to check it out first!'

' _It doesn't matter!'_

'Shut up! And fine, we'll take it.'

I hurried out of the building, only to see a group of crafters in a mixture of armors, but yet uniform; A glowing gold chestplate, iron leggings and boots, and a glowing helmet of some metal mesh, though some wore different things.

' _Toldya they'd be coming.'_

As I moved toward the court with my newfound judicial knowledge, I made a mental note to pick a bone with Silver after this.

* * *

"Your Honor, I've come to debate."

"Well look at this, the bloodthirsty shows his face. What are you here for? Come to kill us too?" The state lawyer, who seemed to still be here, sneered, until the judge put up a hand, which stopped him.

"Speak. You returned despite having been accused of such crimes. What is your purpose for this?"

"Simple, Your Honor. I've come to discuss your law system. And it's doubtful justice. You see, under the Federation Criminal Law, Article 3, gimme a sec." I pulled out the book and skimmed through the pages till I found what I was. "For a killing to be called murder, you needed to prove I was of malicious intent, did it with my own will, or caused it willingly, and be sane. While I can assure the sane part, you didn't bother with any others, to check. So let's take that a step down to manslaughter. Still bad, sure, but surprise, surprise, mister… Kestrel, I don't fit in that either! As for the testimony, I testify to umm-"

"Notch, and the Federation." The judge helped.

"To Notch and the Federation, that I did not commit this killing. You are free to investigate, and I assure you, you will find nothing. As for the concern of the death of the guards, and my subsequent escape, that I attribute to the fact that RedRinger has been present in this city, and may still be here. Most likely he stayed undercover, but he's been here. And he's the one who cleaned out your place. I have no more to say at the moment."

The judge motioned me to sit on the bench, while the judge and Kestrel whispered something to each other.

' _Normally when this happens, things either go real good or real bad. I hope it's the good.'_

'I don't know how this is going to go, and it doesn't seem to okay, he hates me.'

The whispering stopped, and the judge motioned Kestrel to go inside.

"Tell me Tyrone. Did you really kill those two Crafters?"

"I said it once, I said it twice, and I'll say it again. I didn't. I have absolutely zero combat skill. And you say that I could kill not one, but two people?"

"You know," the judge said as he took off his glasses. "You'd be surprised how many people I've sentenced to death who said that. And were actual killers. Though I believe you, a bit."

"What do you-" I was cut short by Kestrel coming back with a book.

"You see Tyrone," the judge's tone became more professional than a moment before. "The dossier shows you with little more than a lack of Federation citizenship, and potential connections to the Withered, based on your method of carry, which you still have."

 _'Wait what?! Dump it!'_

I tossed my bag to the side, and took a quick step aside. "What bag, heh?"

"However, based on your testimony, we have decided to believe in you, partly."

"However, in order to prove it, you need to cement our belief in you. Prove your loyalty to the Federation, and prove your claim that you would not harm, or let come to harm to any fellow member of the Federation. Through mutual discussion, we have decided that the best way to do so, would be to have you temporarily work as a member of the Lustace guard, under the investigation division, under Lieutenant Anion_Cat. You are to report here at Midday, and preferably in a presentable manner. Your status as a wanted felon has also been lifted, for now."

"Thank you, your honor." I left the Courthouse, the sun setting as I went to Hellephino Avenue.

This day went by better than planned.

* * *

Inventory: Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, 4 Potatoes, 4 Carrots, 5 Steak, 4 Cooked Mutton. 1 Book (Constitution And Law Of the Federation; Volume 5: Criminal Law)

Inventory (Finn): Bucket, Iron Sword, Stone Pickaxe (Heavy use) 2 Wooden Logs, 6 Wooden Planks, 2 Emeralds, Map, 1 Book.

 **So that happened. A less combat heavy chapter, but I felt I kind of fleshed out the city a bit more than before, along with a bit more about the Federation. But yeah; Ty's finally no longer has to run from the law, but he still has to deal with it. How? Stay tuned to find out. Same place, same channel. Not same time though. This time ain't coming back.**


	27. Chapter 27: Law (Part 2)

27: Law (Part 2)

 **A/N: Alright! Karbon here with another chapter. Dealing with Federation Law continues for Tyrone.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or any of the related mods. Otherwise, you could store books in Bookshelves.

* * *

[Tyrone]

I was in a void. Again. For what's probably the fourth time.

"Who is it this time?" I called out. "Notch? Jeb? Who is it this time? Just be nice this time. I don't want any of the crazy stuff you've thrown at me like before."

Suddenly, the temperature began to climb. Fast. I called out. "Okay, this is not funny. Whichever of you this is, cut it out. It's getting a bit stuffy here. I'm serious!"

A voice bellowed through the void, unlike any other. Full of malice, disgust, hatred. As though the owner hated me.

"An impudent one, aren't you? I wonder what the others find in you. You're weak. Inexperienced, yet you fight on for a cause that gives no benefit to you. What is it that you find in these Crafters? They don't care for you."

"Who are you?!" I called out to the void, only to find myself transported to some hellish place, my feet stuck in some sort of earth, which was growing on me, trapping me, echoing with the wails of tortured souls.

Someone walked over to me, unaffected by that same soil.

"Funny how normally someone would come over and save you from these sticky situations? Or how my champions would falter. You're little friends won't save you this time. Nor will I spare you." His white pupil-less eyes flashed, and he stabbed me with something, the pain like a burning knife.

"Where are the artifacts?"

"I don't…know!" I cried out. The pain was excruciating, and cleared my mind of any thoughts.

"You will tell me! You know where they are!"

I tried to Blink my way out of this, but nothing happened. Hen grenades were out of order as well. I glanced at my hand.

Or what was left of it. Only a stub at the end of my arm remained, bleeding.

"I told you there was no help. Now answer me, or I'll have you join the souls I've taken."

'A little help here, Brain?'

No answer. I was truly helpless.

"So?" The being said, pulling out the bloodied blade of green light. "Are you going to give in? No? Then I have no need for you."

The world changed, to me pinned down on a white table, a Withered bringing down the sacrificial knife.

"Gah! What the hell just was that?" I woke up with a start, drenched in a cold sweat.

"Just a bad dream. Get over it." Came Finn's voice as he turned over in his bed.

I checked my left hand. Fortunately it was still there, complete with the Mark.

With a sight of relief, I got up, my back aching from sleeping on the carpeted floor. I should've thought better, but I didn't have a bed. The room was simple, a white carpeted floor, stone brick walls, a lamp of some sort hanging from the ceiling. There was a bookshelf at the corner, chalk-full with all sorts of books. To the top was a clock.

Clock. I had to be at court by midday.

"Finn what time is it? I can't understand what this clock's supposed to say."

"What is it?" Finn groggily answered as he woke up, scratching his light purple hair, wearing a yellow t-shirt.

"Where's your panda suit? And what's the time?"

"The time's uh, about an hour to noon. My suit's over there. Just lemme sleep now." And he hid under the covers again.

' _That was useful. C'mon, let's grab a bite and drop by the court.'_

"When you wake up, try to convince Esme that I'm not part of the Legion. I'll owe ya."

"Do it yourself." The covers groaned.

I grabbed two loaves of bread from the chest, and sandwiched a steak in between.

"Steak sandwich. Delicious and nutritious. I'm a genius." I spoke to myself as I reached the exit.

' _You think we may wanna look less like a person who just woke up from a bad dream?'_

'So what are you calling for?'

' _We go back in, and have the greatest shower we ever had ever.'_

'Like that's even possible.'

' _Just listen to me.'_

I went back to find the bathroom, and lo and behold, there was some dispensing block on top of a 2x2 shower cabin. A sign nearby said: 'Turn on shower through lever, and please turn off before leaving. We don't want a flood.'

"That's that, I guess. So, shower?"

' _Nope.'_

"Shower it is then."

I entered the cabin, hanging my clothes over the side of the door. I flicked the lever and felt the water flow over me.

"This ain't so bad after all." I spoke to myself, as a thought immediately triggered. A shower thought.

'What if this is all a simulation and I'm just a glitch, different from others, with my crazy powers? What of I'm immortal, but I don't know it?'

' _Okay, enough with the shower thoughts.'_

I turned off the shower as I donned my red shirt and blue hoodie, along with the khaki jeans I wore since day one.

"Off to work then."

* * *

An hour after leaving the building and getting half lost later, I managed to get myself to the courthouse, finding not the judge, nor Kestrel, but some lady in a large tan overcoat, a light blue undershirt, red wavy hair down to her shoulders, holding a bottle of some liquid and a book in her hands.

"Lieutenant Anion_Cat, Investigation Division. Wouldn't exactly say it's a pleasure to meet you, but your skills and the situation at hand make you quite the help."

I arched an eyebrow. "What exactly are you going for here?"

"Follow me. I'll explain as we go over to my place. I was waiting here for you to come over."

We weaved through the streets until we stopped at a distinct white and blue house, next to a grey building.

"C'mon in." Anion said as she took a sip of whatever was in that bottle.

Inside was a flooring of white stone, with a red rug next to a coffee table, with another bottle laying there.

"It's this way." She took me upstairs, to show me a complex web of news clippings on a wall. I stood there for a moment, trying to understand what was going on. First dodging the law, then joining it and now dealing with a possible conspiracy theorist. I never asked for this.

"What's this supposed to be?" I probed.

She waved her hand at the web. "This here, is our case to solve. If you see here-" She ran her finger over a clipping over at the top. "There was a double murder over in the Market a week back. And another three two days ago by the armor district."

"Okay, bad, but certainly nothing special. Right?"

"It may seem so, but look at this. The weapons used there were obtained from a black market dealer, and also shows resemblance to weapon used by someone in the War, shown by here and here, and what this leads to is the possible conclusion that the weapons are being stolen from those places, and being sold here, to be used for murder!" Anion was clearly in her element, excited yet hyperventilating from speaking so much so fast. She took another sip from the bottle.

"If you don't mind, what's actually in there? You seem to be drinking it all the time. Looks like water but-"

"There's no time to be sitting around for stuff like that. You see, after the whole jailbreak caused by you, we're currently short-staffed. So it's only you and me on this. Though judging from your report you should be fine."

"Fine? What do you mean fine? This isn't a joke. I have little to no combat experience, apart from mobs, and you're saying I'm going to be taking on a bunch of thugs?"

"I never said anything about thugs. Even if I did, your papers show that you cleaned out the prison, because you were the only one escaping, which discounts the possibility of a planned external breakout. That probably doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't. Just like your Fed's obsession with papers. So, you seemed to have cracked the case, but what do you need me for?"

"You see, I've found out where the weapons came from and where they go, but I don't know who's involved exactly. So we have to investigate. I'm sending you over to the Old City for a stake out, to see who's involved there, while I go find this black market and end the operations there. A two pronged assault, and should effectively end the whole fiasco."

"Shouldn't you send the main guards for that?" I asked.

"Who's going to man prison then?"

"Could you stop pulling that prison and staff card?"

"Nope."

"Any idea how long this'll take?"

"Nope."

"Will you stop saying that?"

"Nope."

"Will I be getting some useful kit for this? Cause my old bag isn't exactly fitting the situation here, plus I could use a little more firepower."

"I should have some old stuff lying around in my storeroom, if you want. Follow me."

"Thanks, I guess." Was all I could come up with.

"Don't mention it." was the answer as we entered the bedroom.

"Let's see, we got this, don't need that." Anion talked to herself as she tossed a few things out. Namely an iron sword, a worn-out iron helmet, and a white bag with an insignia similar to the one on Anion's cap.

"This is stuff I have from back when I was adventurer like you, going around, exploring."

"What happened then? An arrow to the knee or something?"

"Course not. Found it much easier and safer to settle down in a city, and leave it at that. Climb up the ranks, and now I'm a lieutenant, fine house, pay's good, and the whole nine yards you're probably not interested in." She answered, head still in the chest.

"Right then. I'll be out, if I could get a map. I've been there once, but don't remember the way." I was answered with a map thrown into my face.

"Take care of all of this. I may not use it anymore, but it's got that sentimental value. So don't screw it up."

"So just for clarification, I'm just going to wait there till someone pops up?"

"Arrest them as well. Preferably clean, but if things get dicey, try to get help. You're not cleared for lethal force. The sword's only there because you asked for it. Self-defense and all."

"Guess I'll get going then. See you later."

Leaving the place, I referred to map as I tried to find my way back to the Old City.

' _I have this feeling we might've met who we're after. Those Roadsiders. They were after us anyways, over our bounty. Won't be surprised if they also getting money for those weapons. They were picking them up anyways.'_

"That's one other thing to add to the list then."

* * *

I somehow got to the Old City, the dilapidated buildings greeting me.

' _Wonder what caused all of this to get trashed so badly?'_

"Someone said war, if I remember. War never changes. It'll always ruin things. So where are we staking out?"

' _That place seems fine enough. No one should be able to see us there, though we should be able to see them.'_

'I think they're here.' I could see the Roadsiders gather up near the remains finding whatever they could to sell. I unsheathed my sword as I revealed myself.

"By the order of the law, stop right there!"

"Tyrone, what're you doing here? And put away the sword." Silver commanded.

The tip stayed raised. "You have committed crimes against the Federation and her people. What say you in your defense?"

"This is weird, what you're doing. What makes you think that we're criminals?"

"Let's see," I said snarkily. "The crime in question is selling antique arms to killers. You collect weapons from here, and then sell them at black market, make profit, while others kill. Lines up for me. Oh, and you tried to get me arrested by a Swat team. Or whatever is the equivalent here."

"What's he going on to here?" Milo asked.

"I'll tell you later."

"Why hold off? They need to know the truth. How you under the pretext of helping me, sent me to a disclosed location, tip the authorities off, and collect the bounty on my head. And sent some scary dudes in there. So what was your agenda?" I prompted Silver.

He looked to the side, taking a deep breath, before turning to me. "You need to start trusting people Tyrone. I feel that. You're listening more to your brain than your heart. I respect that, it'll keep you alive, but it's by listening to your heart can you find the people who matter in your life. Your brain is just to keep you alive. That heart of yours is going to make that life worth living."

A silence grasped the Old City for a moment, until Milo started to slowly clapping and drawing our attention.

"What? I thought that was good."

Silver came back to the topic. "You say that I went ahead and tried to get you arrested under the pretext of helping you, and then selling antique weapons to kill people. To that I say, bullshit. I didn't know about your criminal record up until you told me. And I'll admit, I'm not clever enough to pull a trick like you say. That raid wasn't me. Didn't you read the news? That was someone else."

"What about the weapons?"

"I don't know! All I do is sell them off at an auction, and that's that. Get money, pay expenses. Simple as that. I'm not a criminal genius. Not now, not ever." Silver dismissed.

"Then who's the ringleader? Considering how you're the only one I know who spends time here."

"I don't exactly know. We've been the only people as far as I know who search here."

"Dammit. This complicates things. But you gotta know where they could be, right?"

"No, but I guess if you drop by some tavern, they always have some lead to everything. How they do that is above me." Milo pitched in.

I took out my map. "The nearest one seems to be down south as soon as I get back to the main city, it seems."

"Fine then. Have a look there. You should find your answers there."

"I'm listening to you now, trusting my heart, as you say, but I'm watching you. I'm proven right, and I'll haul you into jail myself."

"Of course." Silver waved it off.

"I'm serious!" I called back as I walked away, not taking my eyes off him until I tripped over some debris.

'That's that. Heading over to the… Dusty Well then? What sort of name is that?' I checked the map.

' _Ask the barkeep yourself. You can talk.'_

The door creaked as I walked into the dark wooden tavern, a couple of people merrymaking with their friends. One of them was asleep on a stool, while in the corner a single person sat alone.

' _What's Anion doing here?'_

I walked over to the table, and sat nearby.

"What are doing here?" She asked. "I told you to stake out by the Old City."

"Let's just say, a contact of mine gave me a lead here."

"So what'd he say?"

"He said that while he was in the Old City getting stuff from the past, he wasn't involved in the crimes. Instead, he called for that I might find a possibility of a suspect over here. The barkeep might know."

"Who is this 'contact'?"

"Some dude called Silver. Silver_Sprite. Leader of the Roadsiders. Why? Is that bad?"

Anion said nothing, but rather looked at the door.

"Hold my soda. I have business to take care of."

' _So that's what it was! Wait, who drinks soda?!'_

Inventory: Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, 4 Potatoes, 4 Carrots, 5 Steak, 4 Cooked Mutton. 1 Book (Constitution And Law Of the Federation; Volume 5: Criminal Law), Iron Sword (Heavily Used), Iron Helmet (Moderately used).

Inventory (Finn): Bucket, Iron Sword, Stone Pickaxe (Heavy use) 2 Wooden Logs, 6 Wooden Planks, 2 Emeralds, Map, 1 Book.

 **A/N: So that happened. Anion has a soda addiction possibly. The situation is developing and well, I'll see you next time, probably on the 10th.**


	28. Chapter 28: End of the Beginning

28: End of The Beginning.

 **A/N: Alright, alright. I'm late, I know that. Things happened, hard to explain, lets just get on with the chapter.**

[Tyrone]

"Wait, what are you going at?" Anion didn't listen, just went to the person who came inside, and tapped on his shoulder, whispering something. There was a change in his expression, something I couldn't catch. She went ahead and sat on the stool and ordered something. I sniffed the bottle she left with me. It was soda after all, and looked like what she was drinking the whole time I was with her.

 _'She's got an addiction. Just hope it doesn't give sugar rushes and all. They're a pain to deal with. Speaking from experience.'_

The person sat two stools away, ordering what seemed a small vial filled with some drink. Judging from the smell of the atmosphere, alcohol probably. The smell clung to the air in an unpleasant way, and it made my nose wrinkle. While I waited, I took a look to take stock of my inventory, in case I missed anything while swapping bags.

 _'Apparently not. And it seems there isn't anything special or remarkable here. Just people coming here to get drunk. Never understood why.'_

 **'Not like we'll get it without having one.'**

 _'No. We are not.'_

 **'How bad could it get?'**

 _'I could put up a list of a lot that can. So no. And that's final.'_

'So what do you want to do till Anion is done?'

 _'Read. C'mon Ty, what else is in the Constitution? What else are we supposed to dodge?'_

I took out the book, and began skimming through the text.

"Nothing particularly special," I said to myself. "Seems to be the traditional, don't kill, don't hurt, don't steal, don't be waste of space- wait, what? 'Citizens of the Federation are bound to state to be productive members of society. Failure to do so is a legal offence, and such people will be forced to revoke their citizenship. In case that they were previously under employment and said employment has been revoked for unjust reasons in the eyes of state, the citizen shall be provided with a method of income.' So while you're in deep shit if you unemployed, if it's not your fault you get a free job, so that's kind of nice."

"C'mon, let's go. Reyes' here." Anion tapped the table as she came back.

"Who is this Reyes we're talking about here? And what was all that acting about?"

"Informant. And that was to blend in. Not make too obvious and have him run."

"They always do that, don't they, right?" I gave an awkward chuckle.

"Ty, we both know you have no idea what's happening, and it would be better if you tried to not act otherwise. It helps.

"We walked out of the building, finding a black haired man with a goatee waiting for someone, arms crossed. He wore a leather tunic dyed green, with blue pants. The name: Reyes1738.

 _'Who has numbers in their name?!'_

"So Reyes, what've you found out?" Anion asked him.

"Nothing particular, except that I think I might've traced the marketeers down. They plan to gather for a deal with some Griefers by the Old City at dusk. But they don't know that someone's coming to cut them out of it." Reyes gave a smirk.

"Good job. You're proving more useful than planned. Keep it up."

"So I guess that counts toward the parole promise?"

"If this works out, I can't see why not. Well, see you after this whole thing goes over.

"We left Reyes to his devices, heading back onto the road.

"So we're going to stake out at the Old City?" I asked the red-haired investigator.

"Not yet. We're heading back to my place. Got to get some stuff, kill some time, then head out by the evening, when it's about to come together. You don't want to spend hours in a broken house which could fall whenever logic would allow it, would you?"

"You raise a valid point.

"Back at Anion's house, she replaced her coat with a glowing iron chestplate, similarly glowing leggings, boots, and helmet. I could only watch in amazement

."What's with that look? Never seen a woman in armor? Hm?"

"It's…not that, exactly. It's more of the armor that's caught my attention. What's the glow?"

"Huh. And I thought something else was going through your head." Anion sat on the bed.

"So the glow is actually something called an enchantment. It's like imbuing magic, through some apparatus into tools and apparel to give them special abilities. Like say, making your sword knock zombies or people off of a mountain, or have your pickaxe mine faster."

"So you mean this wand is enchanted too?" I took out the fire wand, the tip spitting embers.

"Wand? No, no it's not. The glow proves it. Or lack thereof. No don't- ah, now you set the carpet on fire. Let me get the bucket of water."

"Sorry." I said, sounding like an apologetic child.

"Apology accepted. But seriously, I don't remember the papers saying anything about you being a Thaumaturge, let alone a combat Thaumaturge; apart from that you had a wand in your bag. So that means one thing, there's a part of you that I don't know, and I want to know it.

I arched an eyebrow. "And why should you? I'm a prior felon, who hopefully will have nothing to do with the Feds after this. So what's your agenda?"

"I'm an _investigator_. It's my job to investigate and understand people. As for that, you underestimate the Feds. They're everywhere, and it's good to have a few friends like me around."

"Alright, alright. I give up. It's just that I'm not the most comfortable telling my life story to someone I just met this morning. But that aside, things sort of kicked off with me falling from the sky, and dropping into the ocean. I pretty much swam to shore, and took time to read some initiation book, as what you guys call it. I ran away from some mobs after that."

Anion was listening intently, motioning me to go on.

"So then what happened was on my way someone ran across me, some dude named William if I remember. Then I got interrogated by Red, long story short, things happened, I started heading over to Lustace, I then got attacked by Griefers, lost my old bag with all the important stuff, and get arrested, and you know what happened from there."

"You really don't want to tell me the details do you?"

"No, it's just that nothing really big happened, it's a short life that I lived y'know. What about your story? I told you mine, makes sense you tell me yours. How'd you end up in the guards and all?"

"Well, my life is pretty boring, nothing particularly amazing. Typical Federation citizen story. Kind of. Spawned here, had some stuff happen, went and got an education, went to Grosjean for specialization, got into the Guard, climbed up the ranks, and now I'm here." Anion gestured to the room. "Stable job, own house, well settled and still striving. The Federation dream."

"And I thought I was being vague." I muttered.

"Hey! I told you nothing special happened. I'm a simple lady with a simple life."

I shifted my view to something else, trying to change the topic. "So, uh, how do you read clocks here? I don't know how they work."

"Simple. There are two halves, day and night. The blue side is day, black is night. As the thing moves from blue to black, it gets night, and the opposite. Speaking of which, it's time to go. You ready?"

"As much as I could…" I trailed off.

"Good. Let's go."

We made our way back to the Old City, when I could hear people speaking, faintly.

"There. That's our mark. Go up, nice and easy. The fact that they don't know we'll be here means they won't be too armed. Just tell them to yield, and we should be fine." Anion whispered.

"I have a bad feeling this will go down much worse than planned."

"Relax, even if things go down, we're armed, and I have backup ready."

I gulped. "Alright, I'll take your word for it."

The voices kept getting louder. "You see, this masterpiece of a weapon, we'll sell it to you for a bargain of 50 emeralds. Just look at it, its-"

"Damn, there's a black market here and I never knew." Anion commented under her breath, as she walked in to the open, me trailing behind like a shadow.

"This is the Federation guard! You are under arrest!"

She grabbed the attention of both the dealers and buyers, one of who looked like he was holding back a laugh. And failing.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, nothing. Except the cruel irony."

The statement threw Anion off. "What irony? Answer me!"

"That your skills failed you. You fell right into the most obvious of traps." Footsteps emanated from everywhere as archers walked out of concealment.

"With all your deductive thinking, you fall right into a trap. You're surrounded, and your chapter comes to a close. If there's a life after this one, you may want to not trust convicts in that one. Especially as an informant."

"Damn it. Should've known."

"Yes, you should have. The only shameful thing here is how that poor scapegoat of a crafter you brought with you has to go too. Let 'em loose!"

Arrows blotted out the setting sun as they aimed for us.

 _'Heart, I never thought I'd say this, but it was kind of nice knowing you!'_

 **'Really? *sniff* the feeling's mutual! I like you too!'**

' _What?'_

[Anion]

It was dark and I could feel nothing. Was I dead? Was this the void? All of a sudden pain shot through my head.

"I'm alive alright, I think." I talked to myself as I sat up. This seemed to be a broken building, with little light streaming through what there was of a door. Another shot of pain. I touched my cheek. It was bleeding. An arrow embedded itself in my leg, the armor barely protecting it. Outside, I could hear muffled cries. Pulling out the arrow and drawing my sword, I walked out.

"There she is! One of them said as they charged me with an axe. I switched to a reverse grip, and spun around his cleave, striking him in the back and knocking him into the dirt.

"Ty?! Where are you?" I called out, kicked the criminal in the head for good measure. An arrow whistled over my shoulder, and I pulled out my shield. I called out again. Where did he go? The sniper who shot me fell out of his hiding spot with a yelp, and Ty's head popped out. "I'm fine! So far!" He said as he ducked behind some blocks as an arrow missed him.

"I'll somehow wait these guys out; you go after the main guys!"

"You're going to die!" I answered as I rolled into cover.

"No I'm not! Just go! We're losing time!"

I shrugged. He wasn't going to want me to stay, but then he didn't have any authority. He checked once more to see my crouched form behind a rock.

"I said go!" And he threw an egg at me, blasting me into the air. I had to have a word with him about that. You do not just blow a lieutenant into the air. Checking my health, I took no damage at all from that-ow. Fall damage, taking its 4 hearts from me, but I was out of the main battleground, and I could see 4 specks running away.

"I've got you in my sights." I smiled as I downed a night-vision-soda cocktail. The world illuminated, and the sugar flowed through me. They weren't getting away. Run-leaping my way over to them, I could see their surprised and shocked faces as each of them got a taste of Newton, knocking each of them into the walls of the dilapidated buildings. They got up, weapons drawn.

"You're supposed to be dead!"

"Maybe you're the one who actually went wrong in the plan." I set off a firework, signaling the Guard. They should arrive in a few minutes.

"Now what? Aren't you going to run? Or fight? You're four on one. Or is it just that you've given up? You could've done that earlier." I raised my shield. "Just make it quick, the guards don't have all day to deal with you."

Needless to say, they went violent, and I reciprocated. A few hits were all that were needed, and the impacts knocked them out. And _might_ have cracked some skulls. This was a problem. I just hope Arcadia has something to fix this fast. The investigation Lieutenant isn't supposed to crack skulls. She's supposed to use what's inside hers.

Zach and the others came by soon enough, and got them all under custody, when I remembered Ty.

"Dammit!" I hurried over back to where the dealers ambushed us. I found him on the ground, whining about some arrow in his heel.

"Toldya I'd make it." He mocked me, though the pain was apparent.

"Well thank Notch you're alive. This could have gone a lot worse than I feared. And you have a lot of explaining to do."

[Red]

I shuffled in my sleep, trying to find a comfortable position, but I couldn't. I opened my eyes, staring at the stone ceiling.

 _'You're uneasy about what happened.'_

'Way to be blunt.'

 _'You're always like that, every time something like this happens. You need to learn to move on. We can't just stay here all the time. Herobrine already gave you something to do!'_

I gave an annoyed yawn. "We've had this conversation before. I'm starting to doubt this. Whether this was the right choice."

 _'Damn right it is. Now we got to find that Tyrone kid again. He probably knows where the Light's headed.'_

"Like I'll find him out at this hour."

The hatch opened. And it wasn't one of those times I just pressed the button. Two people landed, wearing the trench coat and mask I knew all too well. One of them held a dagger at their side, and another an axe."

Shadow sends his regards."

I got up from the bed, and clicked Cobalt open and drew Reason.

"Well fuck you too. You're just here to ruin my night aren't ya? I should've killed that bastard when I had the chance."

 _'Told you so.'_

"Shut up Brain. No one wants your stupid ass opinion."

I didn't need to see their faces to know they didn't understand what I was talking about, and they rushed me.

"Do you people not learn?" I kneecapped the one with the axe with a bullet to the knee. The one with the dagger vanished after the axe wielder fell.

"Oh hell no you aren't. You are not using that again." I crouched and swiped behind me, cutting through the leg of the assassin. I ripped off the mask and slit his throat. He became a pile of gear seconds after. The other one crept their way over, when I flung the bloodstained dagger at them, catching them in the arm.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you."

"You won't."

"Quite the bravado from a dead man." An bang echoed through the room, and the assassin collapsed.

I crouched over the dying form.

"But I never I said I was done dealing with you yet."

Inventory: Inventory (Tyrone): Iron Capped Wooden Wand (Wand Focus: Fire), Stone Sword (Lightly Used) 5 Rotten Flesh, 2 Carrots, 3 Steak, 2 Cooked Mutton. 1 Book (Constitution and Law of the Federation; Volume 5: Criminal Law), Iron Sword (Heavily Used), Iron Helmet (Heavily used).

 **A/N: So yeah. Things are ending on one end, and picking up on the other. Hence the name.**


End file.
